A Normal Teenager
by Lillian-is-fickle
Summary: She grew up a star, and now is Serenity Blair's chance to be a falling star. She’ll hang out with normal people and live life in an upscale boarding school.
1. The Star

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon and its characters. Got it? Good. **

**Summary: She grew up a star, and now is Serenity Blair's chance to be a falling star. She'll hang out with normal people and live life in an upscale boarding school.**

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter One **

Serenity Blair shut her eyes, seeing the blanket of red and fuzzy black dots as the sunlight met her eyelids. Her slim body sunk deep into the soft leather couch and relaxed. She allowed her heart to calm down from her trek up the stairs, and cleared her mind from the nagging anxieties that gnawed at her soul throughout the day. Lack of sleep also contributed to her tiredness. She had her best friend to thank for that.

The night before in warm L.A. nearly drove her to the edge. Hours wasted in countless boutiques, all for an outfit that would be worn and discarded after one use. After all, people like them would never be caught dead wearing the same ensemble twice.

Spending time with Raye Hino always made life thrilling; perhaps too much so. The girl was an enigma; mysterious and fiery being the key descriptions for the raven haired beauty. The outfit in question turned out to be a stunning red, silk dress. It was Versace, of course. Raye had nothing but the best for being a supermodel, and who was also daughter to the governor.

Her best friend had a date scheduled with a sweet guy named Chad. He was an aspiring rock star, who simply adored his on again, off again, girlfriend. Thinking of their relationship made her wish she had a special guy she could call her own. She was a hopeless romantic at heart, and simply adored all the talk of her friends and their latest interests. There was also the slight twinge of jealousy. How could there not? With a strict father like hers, she knew she was bound to be an old spinster.

The door squeaked open. Serenity immediately sat up from the brown, imported couch, situated against the bare wall. Her manager stepped through, her curly black hair done up in a stylish, if not messy bun. Her sparkling, dark blue eyes were partially covered by her dark rimmed D&G glasses. Her long legs were swathed in distress washed, Seven jeans, and the rest of her was covered by a buttercup colored, Juicy Couture cami dress. Serenity took note of the dangling, yellow diamond earrings.

"When are you going to return those?" she said, pointing to her agent's ears. "You know Luna, if you really wanted them, you could have just told me. I would've gotten you your own pair for Christmas."

Luna shook her head in amusement, said earrings swaying gently with each head shake. "Aren't you a funny girl," she said; her tone sarcastic. "Now, let's get down to business since I know you have to be somewhere after this." She stopped on her way to her desk to ponder over the wilting plant that stood next to her large window. "I better water that soon," she said, mostly to herself.

Serenity got up from the couch and sat herself onto an equally comfortable chair in front of Luna's massive black desk. The woman had such a small frame, and when seated behind her desk, it appeared the desk would swallow her whole. Serenity couldn't help but giggle at the thought. Luna raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" She now sat down on her own chair with several manila folders stacked neatly on top of her glass, surfaced desk. She looked up for a moment to stare at her, causing Serenity to giggle even more.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. Luna already knew how random she was. No need to bother her with even more useless thoughts. She couldn't help but stare straight ahead out the window. It was such a beautiful day out, despite the view of all the tall, gray buildings marring the skyline.

Luna slid a particular folder towards her. A well manicured finger tapped against the folder. "I want you to read this. Tell me what you think."

Serenity quickly grabbed the thin folder and perused through its contents. She noticed a picture of a large and elegant building, done in the Victorian style. It was of a school, as the sign clearly indicated _Academy _on the well maintained green lawn. After several minutes of reading, she set the folder and its contents down. "Absolutely not," she said firmly. "I refuse to do this silly stunt."

Luna's exotic face dropped and quickly turned into a frown. "Why is that? I thought you'd be excited about this."

"Do I seem like the academic type to you, Luna? I've never set foot inside a school, and the friends that used to attend school before they had tutors told me it was horrible. The social life would be a plus, I guess… but I'd rather die than take something like calculus with other people to see how horrible I am at it. Seriously, I'm passing on this one. Give it to one of your other girls. I'm sure they'd be _thrilled._"

"It would be an enriching experience."

Serenity didn't want to sound like a baby in front of her agent, but how else was she to tell the woman that she was afraid? It was true she didn't attend school. Instead, she had tutors come to her home and teach her the basics of what she would have learned in an academic institution. Being in a room full of people her age was… well, to put it lightly, it was frightening. Why would her agent want her to go through that when she had perfectly competent tutors willing to teach her? "I'm sorry Luna, but I can't possibly do that. The very idea is ludicrous. They'll eat me alive in there. Besides, where would I stay? It's far from home, my parents…." she sighed. "I can't do it."

Her agent pushed up her eyeglasses onto the top of her head and rubbed at her eyes. "I hate to do this to you, Serenity, but you have no choice. Your parents have already signed the necessary documents and you'll be transferred there starting in two weeks. You'll only have to stay there for one semester."

Serenity jumped out of her seat and slammed her small fist onto the polished desk. "But you don't understand. I can't possibly go to a school with nobody I know. I'll be an outcast, a loser. I'll have no one to talk to. I don't want to go through that." The door looked tempting. If only she could escape from this meeting… but that would solve nothing.

"You'll make friends."

She still wasn't convinced. She'd been in front of the camera since before she even learned how to talk. Despite that, she was quiet and shy, which people were quick to label her off as being a snob. Even when trying to be friendly to strangers, all they ever saw Serenity Blair, America's teen idol. She wasn't a person to them, just another pretty face all over television and magazines.

"Serenity, you're the sweetest, bubbliest girl I know. You'll make tons of friends. They're crazy if they don't want to be friends with the famous teen idol, Serenity Blair."

She sniffed. "There's the small fact that they won't know I'm Serenity Blair. Seriously Luna, going undercover to some random school just seems so… farfetched and silly. I'm not a spy, for gods sakes! I'm an actress."

Luna changed the subject immediately. "Speaking of acting career, there is a reason why I'm pushing this little side project. It's for you to get a new gig that's supposedly going to be hot. A new TV series if you will, that all the teens in the U.S. and other countries will watch and love."

"And how do you know that if it hasn't even aired yet?" Serenity asked sarcastically.

"I just know these things," she said. "Aren't you going to ask why you're going to school?"

"To learn?" Serenity replied innocently enough.

"Learn what?" Luna urged further.

She shrugged. "Math, English, the works." Serenity propped her feet onto the chair across from her and slumped into her seat. She was beginning to wish she was at dinner right now. Then she could yell at her parents for agreeing to this madness.

"Not quite. You'll be learning how it is typical teenagers live their lives. You'll experience first hand the tribulations of being a nerdy teenager who goes through love, betrayal--"

"Wait, stop right there," Serenity interrupted. "Nerdy? Are you trying to get me killed in there? Besides, I can't act like a nerd. I'm not intelligent enough."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Are you not an actress? This should be a piece of cake for you."

Her stupid pride had to kick in at that moment. Of course she was an actress, a marvelous one in fact. Why wouldn't she be able to act like a nerd? How hard could it possibly be?

"I'll buy you ice cream," Luna added, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "A gotta have it sized, birthday cake remix on a waffle cone."

If she had one weakness, it was food. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a secret obsession of food, especially junk food. Her weight trainer, Amara, scorned her eating habits, but still the woman couldn't stop her from eating all sorts of sweet delicacies. Ice cream happened to be on top of the list of no no's. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in defeat.

Luna had the silliest grin on her face. "I'll treat you to ice cream before you leave for your new school."

Serenity nibbled on her bottom lip, anxiety coming back full force. "Just make sure I have my own dorm room," she sighed. "I need my privacy."

"I'll try, but nothing's definite yet. It may be harder since you're showing up in the middle of the school term as it is. Since you're playing the nerd, you'll be placed in all the hard courses. Also, I'm having Trista pick out your new wardrobe tomorrow. If you want, you can accompany her."

"I trust Trista in picking out cute outfits. I would only get in her way if I go. Honestly though, shopping for new clothes is unnecessary. I went shopping for a new wardrobe just four days ago."

Laughing, Luna shook her head. "You expect to wear designer brands while at school? I don't think so, Serenity. Say goodbye to couture and hello to Walmart. You're playing the nerd, not the popular, rich girl. You're to befriend the other teens like you and learn from them on how they act socially. Hell, imitate their study habits even. Your parents would thank me in the end." She sounded smug, annoying Serenity to no end.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. "I don't actually have to do the work, do I?"

Luna's eyes widened before massaging her temples as if she had a headache. "Of course you have to do the work. You're going to be in a school, being a real student, and learning while you're at it."

"This won't work out then. Just ask my tutors; they'd say I'm a C student at best."

Luna just shrugged and pretended to pick imaginary lint off her blouse. "You'll manage somehow." She peered up at the round clock hanging against the white painted wall. "You better rush on home now, Serenity. Your parents have the times and dates for your makeover sessions and everything else relating to this little trip."

They both stood up from their seats. Luna walked around the desk and gave Serenity an affectionate hug. "Don't worry. This will be a wonderful new experience for you. And remember, I'll only be a phone call away. After all, that's what agents are for." She pulled away and gave her a wink. "Oh, and take this with you." She handed over the folder. "Just look it over some more, alright? Seriously Serenity, everything will be fine."

Serenity let out a sigh. "I only hope so." She walked out the door after mumbling a brief goodbye.

She made the quick decision of taking the elevator down instead of having to walk through seven flights of stairs. She met up with her driver who was waiting patiently in the lobby. He immediately got up from his seat and opened the heavy glass door for her. The sleek, Mercedes Benz S-600, was conveniently parked in front of the building. Her driver strode towards the car and opened the back seat for her as well. She nodded her head in thanks and settled inside the leather interior.

A cold bottle of Evian was already waiting for her as she got inside. She unscrewed the light blue cap and took a sip, all the while staring out the tinted window as the buildings passed by her line of sight. She couldn't help but feel the anxiety roll back into the edge of her mind. She hated the additional stress of her job, yet she thrived on it.

Her cell phone went off suddenly, the tune that of Moonlight Densetsu playing softly as Serena cursed. She grabbed her white Prada bag next to her on the black leather seat and searched for the wayward Blackberry. "Aha!" she grabbed the silver handset that was hiding behind her Gucci sunglass case. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Sere, it's me," Raye's voice filtered through. "You busy tonight? I'm thinking of a girl's night out. What do you say?"

Serenity smiled. "Besides reading comic books all night, then no, I'm not busy. What do you have planned?"

"I have a photo shoot tomorrow. My agent wants me to build up my portfolio." She imagined Raye rolling her eyes as she said this. "Anyways, I really need a new look. The photographer wants me to inspire him, or some rubbish like that."

"So you just want me to accompany you?" she asked. She wrinkled her forehead. Raye's plan didn't sound fun at all. In fact, it would only be tedious, keeping the fickle girl company.

"It's not like you got anything better to do," she added on.

Serenity sighed. If only her best friend didn't know her so well.

"Besides, you still have to return my comics back to me. It's been a week already, Sere. How long does it take for you to read the captions? Sheesh!"

"Don't be so mean!" she whined. "Another week and I'll return them to you, I promise. And I'm just getting to the good part. I'm so glad you told me about Nana. It's such a cute manga."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Although having your best friend share the same name as you would get annoying, not to mention confusing, after awhile. Anyways, I'll pick you up later then and we'll head over to Michelle's salon."

The car stopped suddenly. Serenity looked out the window to see that they were already parked inside the garage. "I gotta go, Raye. It's dinner time already."

"Fine. I'll pick you up in an hour, kay? Bye, hun!"

"Bye," Serenity said and ended the call. She stuffed the phone back into her purse. Dinner, the only meal she had with her family. Everyone else was usually busy, especially her. Only her younger brother, Sammy, seemed to have a slow paced lifestyle of school, soccer, and video games.

She walked into the inviting, sage green dining room. It was one of the prettiest rooms in the house, with the low hung, golden chandelier imported from France. The moldings enhanced the oil based paintings that hung along the walls, depicting various fruits in a basket and one of _The Last Supper_. It was the dark, cherry wood table that stood in the center focus, easily seating up to twelve people. She had admired the intricately carved borders along the surface of the table and legs. It was a fine piece of furniture that her parents let her pick out from the Ashley catalogue.

Her mother and father were already seated and had begun eating the small feast that the cook prepared for them. Her younger brother Sammy seemed to be missing from the table. Taking her seat across from her mother, she gave her a questioning look. "Where's Sammy?"

Her mother's round face lit up and a warm blush appeared on her usually pale cheeks. "He's on a date! Can you imagine that? My little boy is already dating," she crooned. She pushed her dark, wavy bangs away from her tearful eyes. "Just yesterday he was learning how to walk. Now he's on his first date." She picked up her napkin from her lap and began patting around her wet eyes. "She's such a sweetheart too, that Mika. They make such a cute pair."

Serenity coughed. "I didn't even know he had a girlfriend." It was sad. At this rate, she was never going to have a boyfriend.

"How'd you're meeting with Luna go?" her mother said swiftly once she got her emotions under control. She set her napkin on top of her black skirt and pulled the yellow fabric of her turtleneck away from her a bit. "Oh, I have a stain," her mother said absentmindedly. She let the blouse go and resumed her eating.

"It went okay I guess, despite the fact that I'm attending school as a geek for a semester."

Her father looked up from his newspaper, the lenses of his large, Chanel eyeglasses glinting from the warm light of the chandelier. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, princess," he said. Serenity opened her mouth to respond, but he quickly cut her off. "But it would do you some good if you do go. It'll build up character."

"Yes, Father," she said glumly. She took a sip of her soup, only to wince at how hot it was. "I'm going out with Raye later, if that's alright." She pushed the soup away and reached for her salad instead. She laced the greens with a lot of blue cheese dressing, her favorite.

Her mother took a sip of red wine and then placed it down. "Whatever for? Didn't the two of you spend time together yesterday to go shopping? Seriously Serenity, it's like you're trying to avoid the family time I set up for all of us. We hardly see you anymore, what with our jobs, and your own career…."

"It's not like that! We're just going to Michelle's salon really quickly to--"

"But you're appointment isn't until Monday," her mother interrupted.

"Not for me, Mother," she explained, "but for Raye. She's getting a haircut, I think."

"Well, if you insist on having your own appointment today, I'll call Michelle up to change your appointment to tonight."

"I didn't insist--"

"Serenity dear, if you're going there tonight, there's no need to go back on your scheduled day. It'll save you the trip there." Her mother glanced at Serenity's long blonde hair. "Just don't have it cut too short. You're hair is just so lovely when it's that length."

"Yes, Mother." She stabbed at a cherry tomato, only to have it fly off her bowl and roll onto the table.

Her father eyed the fallen tomato and shook his head. He immediately went back to reading his newspaper.

She had had enough of family time. "May I be excused?" she asked. She didn't bother to wait for an answer. She got up from her seat and tossed the table napkin onto the table.

"You didn't have any of the roasted herb chicken!" her mother called out after her.

Serenity immediately rushed out of the stifling room and went outside onto the porch. She had grabbed her Prada purse and a pair of strappy Jimmy Choo's heels on her way out. She deftly slipped them on while sitting on the stone steps. She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the crickets and birds chirping. It was quite calming, which she needed. She knew her parents meant well, but it was times like these she wished she lived on her own. Maybe going to a boarding school was a good idea. At least she'd have her own space.

Serenity then remembered the folder that was inside her purse. She took it out and leafed through the papers. She soon found what she was looking for. On the single sheet of paper were the stats on the fictional person she was to portray.

"Name: Serena Claire." She snorted. It was so similar to her real name. At least her future alias would be easy to get used to. "Hometown: Moon, California. Yeah, wherever that is." She continued to scan the document and grew even more confused further down. "Gray eyes? Brown hair? That so isn't me. Unless they're going to make me wear a wig or something..." Another paper, a doctor's prescription, was found as well. "Glasses!" It was true. In tight, loopy, handwriting, glasses were recommended for a Serena Claire. At the bottom was signed a Dr. Anderson, the family physician. She frowned. The whole thing was a fake.

A beep of a horn brought her back to reality. Raye in her blood red Porsche convertible waved her over frantically. "Come on!" she said. "I don't have a night." Serenity fought off a grin as she entered the car and slammed the door shut.

"Good timing. You're a lifesaver!" she said.

Raye nodded her head, her attention focused on getting out of the long, curvy driveway. "Seatbelt, Sere," she reminded her, before zooming past the opened gates that guarded the Blair estates and off towards the nearest highway.

"So when's the date with Chad?" Serenity asked lightly. "Wasn't that supposed to be tonight?"

Raye's beautiful face contorted into an angry expression. Her violet eyes appeared to glow with an unseen fire. "I wouldn't know. He canceled on me an hour before our date."

"Sorry to hear that, Raye," Serenity said. "So are you going to dump him?" _Again_, she thought to herself.

"Yes! No one cancels on me the very last minute. Who does he think he is? That man is infuriating." Her fists tightened against the steering wheel.

Serenity daintily coughed into the palm of her hand. "You're going to make us miss our exit if you don't calm down."

Raye made a sharp right turn until they were in the slow lane, and then slowed down a bit. "I don't get it, Sere. Why do men have to be such assholes? I keep thinking he'd change for the better, but then he does something stupid again."

"You just turned seventeen, Raye. We're still young. Don't worry. Mr. Right will find you eventually," Serenity stated wisely.

"Not soon enough," she sighed.

The ride had been a silent one after that. Serenity wished her day would improve, or at least improve for her friend. She hated seeing anyone upset, especially Raye. Yes, she was used to seeing Raye angry, and yes, she was used to seeing Raye happy... sometimes. But rarely had she seen Raye this miserable. It was almost as bad as the time when Raye's mom died, although Raye had refused to cry even then.

"We're here," Raye interrupted her thoughts. She removed the keys from the ignition and stepped out of the car. Serenity did the same and stared at the pleasant stucco building in front of them.

Serenity thought back to her mom's comment with her hair. "Raye, I'm cropping my hair, maybe up to my shoulders or something. What do you think?" She fiddled with her long strands of hair.

Raye laughed. "I bet you'll chicken out before a pair of scissors snip off that beloved hair of yours."

The two friends walked amicably into the warmly lit salon, their heels clinking against the polished floors. There were no other costumers besides them. Michelle, who was sitting behind the reception desk, grinned once they entered the room.

"Ah, my two favorite customers," Michelle said, leading them into a private room. "Serenity, you're mother called to inform me of the change in schedule. I already have everything set up for your make-over." She winked at her, causing the girl to hang her head down in embarrassment. Raye looked at her best friend curiously.

"What's she talking about Sere?" Raye whispered as she sat down on one of the chairs.

Serenity sat on the chair next to her and shrugged. "It beats me. I only came here to accompany you."

It had seemed that Raye didn't really want to change her looks. She had a short trim that took only ten minutes of Michelle's time. Then it was Serenity's turn. The rebellion in her wanted to cut her hair short, and maybe dye it some outrageous color. At least she'd be the future nerd with the cool hair.

"I want my hair this short," she began, leveling her hand towards her shoulder, "and maybe--"

"Sorry Serenity," interrupted Michelle, a twinkle of mischief in her green eyes. "I'm afraid you don't get to choose. I was given directions by Luna on what's to be done. I must say you're in for a total transformation."

"Okay, what's this all about?" an annoyed looking Raye asked, hands on her hips and giving an imposing glare.

"You haven't heard?" Michelle asked, clearly surprised. "Serenity will be going undercover, spying on some kids at a snotty boarding school."

"I'm not going to spy, Michelle," Serenity said irritably, still quite upset at the idea that she couldn't decide her new look. "Luna said I was to learn how a nerd acts and stuff. I'll need it for my next role, that is, if I pass the auditions. Thus, I'm being sent to an academy where I'm to learn first hand what it's like to act and live as a normal teenager."

Raye stared dubiously at Serenity. "They have a school for that?"

"Well, no. I'll attend a school and pretend to be the school nerd for a few months. Then it's back here to my tutors and shopping trips." She grinned at that.

"You don't have to pretend Serenity, you're already a nerd," Raye said, a look of annoyance flitting through her face. "And why didn't you tell me this before? Some friend you are."

"Oh dear," Michelle said, mostly to herself, as she held a brush over her mouth.

"How can I possibly tell you when you were blabbing about your silly boyfriend?" argued Serenity, getting up from her seat. Michelle, trying to prevent a fight from breaking out, shoved the blonde girl back into her seat and began working on her hair.

"Sit still Serenity before I cut your ear off by accident." That did the trick, but it didn't stop Serenity from bickering with Raye.

"If you were paying attention Serenity, you'd have known that he isn't my boyfriend anymore!"

"Yeah right, as if I believe that! It's so obvious that you still like him!"

"Shut up! Just shut up, okay?"

"No, why don't you shut up first?" Serenity challenged.

"No, you," Raye retaliated

"You!"

"No, you!"

"Girls," Michelle yelled, catching the two girls' attention. She tugged on Raye's elbow and led her across the room. "Raye, sit over there and read some magazines. I found an especially interesting article on makeup usage. Yes, that's the one. Good girl. Now just sit there and remain silent." Michelle turned her attention to Serenity. "As for you Serenity, you'll be extra quiet and won't move a muscle. Got that?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry Michelle," Serenity said glumly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too Michelle."

Michelle just shook her head, a small smile forming with her pink painted lips. "It's all right you guys. I find it humorous that the two of you can still act like you're six." She began to snip at Serenity's hair. "How does three inches below the shoulder sound to you, Serenity?" she asked.

"It's not like I have a choice in the matter," she muttered.

She laughed. "No, you don't." With that said, she began creating her magic.

* * *

Serena Claire had come to life. No longer was she just mere words written on a piece of paper, describing in dull notes on how she looked liked. She existed, when just an hour or two before, she had been someone else, someone who was not Serena Claire. It was quite a transformation, a new beginning for her. It was exhilarating, yet it also made her very afraid. What would happen to the old Serenity Blair once everything was over with? Would she be a changed person? Or would this Serena Claire take over her life totally, and influence Serenity into another entity?

"Well Serenity, do you like it?" Michelle asked; a weary but proud look shining in her eyes.

Serenity didn't know what to say. Staring at the looking glass, she saw herself, yet it wasn't what she'd expected to see. Minute by minute, she'd seen the transformation happen. Blonde tendrils littered her feet. Her new do wasn't as long as before, but it wasn't too short as well. Instead of Michelle dying her hair brown like she'd expected, Michelle made lowlights throughout her hair. Her mane did look brown now, but with highlights. Her eyebrows were the same color as the lowlights, making it appear as that was the natural color instead of the honey blonde strands. It really was an utter transformation.

"Wow Sere," Raye said in amazement. She walked up to them, hand still holding onto her magazine. "You look like a totally different person."

Serenity sniffed. "Thanks... I guess. And it's wonderful Michelle. I really don't look like me." She stared sadly at her reflection. She liked the way she'd looked before.

Michelle seemed to notice the girl's sadness. "It's not permanent Serenity, just remember that."

She nodded. At least her eyes were still blue and not covered by eyeglasses... yet.

"Do you know how to braid your hair Serenity? Or perhaps wear it in a bun? You're to wear those two hairstyles only. Maybe keep it in a ponytail as well." Michelle shrugged.

"I hate to interrupt, but we've got to go. I have to wake up early tomorrow," explained Raye as she glanced at the time in her cell phone.

"That's alright," Michelle said as she walked behind the reception desk and typed in something into the computer. "Credit card I presume?"

Raye nodded as she handed her Visa card over to Michelle. Serenity attempted to do the same, but Michelle just shook her head.

"I've already been paid by your agent," Michelle said.

"Oh," was all Serenity could say in turn. She put the card back into her wallet and stuffed it in her bag.

Michelle handed back Raye's credit card. "It was a pleasure doing business with you girls. Come back for a visit sometime."

"Of course," said Raye as she exited the building.

"Goodbye Michelle," Serenity nearly whispered as she too, left. "And goodbye Serenity Blair. I'll see you in a few months." She didn't really understand why she felt this way. She was an actress; she should be used to this. Yet somehow, this was different. Her life would be a stage, acting with the other actors. But when did the acting stop? This was real life. The other actors weren't forced to be nice to her. She'd have to act all day and all night. It wouldn't end. She'd be Serena Claire, a girl she really didn't understand or know.

"Get a move on it Sere!" Raye complained as she revved the engine.

Serenity shook her head, clearing all the silly thoughts from her head. "Don't leave without me!" she wailed as Raye's convertible began to reverse.

Raye slammed on the breaks. "Well hurry then!" Raye shook her head. "As if I would leave her to begin with," she mumbled to herself.

Serenity got in and immediately put on her seatbelt. "I'm ready," she said. Raye pushed down on the gas and zoomed down the road ahead.

* * *

The next few days had been a blur to Serenity. At one point, she had gone to see an Optometrist to fulfill her prescription. On that trip, she'd gained gray contacts as well as thick-framed black eyeglasses. She was forced to wear the contacts and eyeglasses everyday now. But by far, it was the shopping trip that was the worse. Having to shop at the local Wal-Mart was humiliating for her. Trista didn't seem to be enjoying herself either.

Somehow, Trista got the job done and bought enough clothes to last the new Serena Claire a lifetime. Serenity planned to burn the cheap clothing once her time in hell school was up. Yes, she usually was an optimistic person. She didn't want to kid herself though. She wasn't going to make a lot of friends and be Miss Popular. Already, she had a feeling her school life was going to be bad.

And now here she was, Miss Serena Claire of Moon, California, waiting for the coach bus to arrive that would take her to the town of where the school was located.

Her hair had been placed into two tight braids. The eyeglasses somehow hid the color of her eyes, giving them a dull look unlike her usual vibrant blue eyes. She was wearing an overly baggy sweater, despite the heat of the Californian sun. To complete the outfit, she was dressed in a pleated skirt that reached her knees, rolled up socks, and Chuck Taylor sneakers. Who wore raggedy sneakers with a skirt on? And especially with the skirt she was wearing now, which wasn't even her school uniform.

"Here you go, Serenity." Luna handed her the delicious Coldstone ice cream, just as she had promised. Serena Claire stared at the ice cream broodingly. Luna shook her head, smiling. "You'll do fine Sere. You're a natural."

Serena Claire just shrugged. "Whatever you say, Luna, but I still have my doubts." She pictured ways on how to get payback on Luna and her parents. _Sweet revenge_, she thought as she licked her ice cream.

The bus soon arrived and she was forced to throw out the ice cream cone because of the 'No Food on the Bus' rule. Luna smiled apologetically as she waved. Serena smiled and said goodbye to everyone congregated at the bus stop. Turning around, she entered fully into the bus and found a seat, dumping her luggage at the seat next to her.

"Orcyrde Academy, here I come," she said softly to herself as she pulled out a book. The title said Calculus, but inside was the comic book she never returned to Raye. She smiled softly. "Let the games begin."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Tell me what you think. Good? Bad? All feedback welcome! If you find any mistakes or discrepancies, let me know. I usually go back and try to find more errors. Thanks for reading! Twelve reviews for chapter one! Yay! 


	2. The Bet

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Two**

What had Luna been thinking?

It was teen suicide to start at a new school, and even more so to start in the middle of the year. Cliques were already formed and locked in their positions. No one bothered to offer their hand in friendship. Did Luna expect her to be a social outcast?

Well, she should have known better than that. Serenity Blair was a bubbly persona, making a few rare friends, and even more enemies. Yet, she no longer was Serenity Blair. Would it be more difficult now to make new friends than before? Surely students didn't concern themselves with how other people looked and their personal background… right? They would like to be her friend, despite her new looks… right?

Walking smoothly through the hallways towards her first class, she could hear the chattering of the other students. They were nice, she had to admit, but all of them acted like strangers. No one so far had made the stretch to be her friend. No one offered to lead her to her classes. And best yet, no one even hinted to the in's and out's of the school. How was she supposed to act like one of them if she already was deemed a social outcast!

_Deep breaths, Serena Claire_, she said to herself. She closed her eyes, focusing on the task at hand. She was to be an intelligent young woman. Perhaps she would raise her hand to answer all the questions. Maybe she'll even ask more questions than answer. Would that prove to everyone that she was smart?

Smack. The books she cradled within her arms fell to the floor, and she, herself, careened backwards. Her eyes flew wide open and made contact with enthralling dark blue orbs, a look of surprise etched on the young man's face. Reflexively he reached out to grab her, and soon found herself in a tilted standing position. Blushing, she stood up straighter and pushed herself away from his muscled arms. Her heart did flip-flops. The guy could have been a super model! He made Brad Pitt look ordinarily. She wondered if perhaps he had some Asian ancestry like Raye. It would explain the exotic and highly attractive man before her.

Yet his once concerned face immediately turned into that of cruel amusement. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

She bit her lip, trying her hardest not to cry. So what if the first guy she ran into turned out to be a jerk, and a gorgeous jerk at that. That wouldn't let her down. She quickly picked up her books, wishing she had a bag to stuff them into. The young man was still there, his leather loafers in the same spot as before.

"You're new," he blandly stated.

Serena took a deep breath, trying her hardest not to retort to his stupid comment. It was best just to ignore him. She sidestepped him and continued on her way to her next class. If she remembered correctly, it was to be math in room 213. Now, if only she knew where room 213 was. Staring at the doors nearest her, their painted numbers read 257 and so on, only growing larger as she continued further. She groaned, knowing she had to turn around and pass the obnoxious man, no boy, once again.

She caught the grin on his face as she turned around and faced the other side of the hallway. He held not a single book, his arms crossed instead and a cocky grin on his face. "Are you lost, new girl?"

"And if I am?" she replied softly. She had decided that Serena Claire was a soft-spoken, even-tempered student, who was kind to others. She refused to let the dark haired student get the best out of her.

The warning bell rang, making her feel anxious. She didn't want to be late to her first class. Back home, whenever she was late to meet with a tutor, they'd yell for a good fifteen minutes and reprimand her on her tardiness.

"Think you could help me find room 213?" she asked politely, readjusting the books within her arms from falling.

"It's your lucky day," he said, smiling broadly. "I so happen to be going there myself. Just follow me." He started strolling down the hallway, but stopped in his tracks and faced her again. "Just stay ten feet away from me. I wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

Serena huffed. "And just what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, indignant.

He winked. He was such a flirt! "I have my own reputation to worry about. Not yours, new girl."

She shook her head. Keeping calm was harder than she thought. "I have a name you know."

"And if you don't hurry up, you'll soon be known as Late Girl too." He quickened his pace and turned down a corridor. She ran to catch up to him, braided pigtails trailing behind her.

"Care to tell me your name?" she asked casually once she reached his side. The both of them were practically running now. Just another minute till the bell rang.

"Darien Shields, but you can call me Gorgeous," he smirked.

"Drop dead," Serena grumbled to herself.

Darien laughed, "Drop dead gorgeous. Yes, I know I am." He gave her a wink again, this time causing a few giggles from the girls they passed by.

"They all love me," he stated, noticing Serena staring at the beautiful girls by their lockers.

Serena rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they do Shields, sure they do." She couldn't help but agree with him, secretly of course.

* * *

"Class, we'll be having a new student join us today. Miss Claire?" the professor called out from the front of the classroom. 

Serena sank lower into her seat and mumbled a "here". Her fellow classmates laughed.

"Come now, Miss Claire. To the front and come introduce yourselves to your peers." The professor nudged her glasses up more to her nose and raised her eyebrows. "Hurry now, dear. I need to start class soon."

"Do I have to?" Serena asked weakly. Serenity Blaire wouldn't have minded on going in front of the classroom. After all, Serenity Blaire was always the star. But no, Serena Claire didn't like to be in the limelight, and she just had to remember that.

"Unless you really don't want to… I don't force my students to do anything they don't want," the professor replied after awhile.

"I don't want to do my homework!" a guy in back of her yelled out.

The professor frowned. "That's improper behavior Mr. Chase. This is a private institution, and we pride ourselves with our well mannered students."

"Does that mean I don't have to do it?" the boy now known as Mr. Chase called back.

"Do that and your parents will receive a letter from me," the professor warned. That made the boy shut up fast. "Now, since Serena Claire doesn't wish to introduce herself, I'll tell you a bit about her. After all, we're a family here at Orcyrde Academy." The professor picked up a folder which probably contained facts about Serena.

"Serena Claire lives in Moon, California and used to attend," the professor wrinkled her nose, "some lesser school than ours, that's for sure." She looked up at Serena and gave her a sympathetic look. 'Public school?' she mouthed, shaking her head at the same time.

Serena's hands were formed into tight fists, hidden from view under her desk. The finest scholars around the world had taught her! Well, they taught Serenity Blaire at least.

"Gained a full scholarship to our beloved school," the professor blared on.

Serena could hear the snickers from around the room. Great, she was in a room with a bunch of snobs, rich snobs at that.

"Highest ranking in her class," the professor continued on.

"That's enough!" Serena stood up from her seat, cheeks turning a bright red. "I mean, please stop. I'm sure the students know enough about me as it is," she said with her meek voice.

The professor stared at her in shock. The class's snickering grew louder. Darien Shields, who sat next to her, threw a rolled up piece of paper into her hair. Serena wanted to scream, but decided against it. She took to her seat and folded her hands on top of her desk, waiting for the professor to begin.

The rest of the class quieted down and waited as well while the professor gained her bearings back.

"Alright class, turn your books to page 63. We'll be learning—what is it Mr. Shields?" the professor asked, exasperated.

"I forgot my book Professor Anthony," he said. He glanced over to Serena and winked.

Professor Anthony waved her hand. "Maybe one of your neighbors will be kind enough to share with you then. Please, Mr. Shields, remember to bring your book next time. I would hate for this to become a daily occurrence."

"Of course," Darien smiled sweetly, moving his desk next to Serena's. Serena wrinkled her nose in disgust as she moved her book in-between the crack of the two desks.

"Don't hog my book Shields," she hissed.

"Wouldn't dream of it, new girl," he replied. He focused on the board soon after, making Serena angry for some reason.

"I'm not sure if you know this Serena, but you're supposed to stare at the board, not at me," Darien whispered to her, still staring rapturously at the board as the professor wrote notes. "Not that I mind, of course. I know I'm irresistible."

She blushed. Stupid Darien Shields. She picked up her pencil and instead of writing down the notes, began drawing stick figures of Darien and writing 'stupid' among other things above it's head.

Darien so happened to take a peek at what she was writing and began to laugh. The professor merely gave them a warning glance, and then went back to her lesson.

"Are you sure you're not supposed to be in level 3, new girl? This is an advanced math class, a very hard advanced math class might I add, and you're not even paying attention to the lesson."

Serena chanced a look at the board and gaped. On it were equations she never once saw before; almost like what the professor was writing in a foreign language. She immediately closed her eyes and began to chant in her mind: Serena Claire is smart. Serena Claire is intelligent. Serena Claire knows what those funky equations are on the board. It just came upon her that she needed more than just acting to get through this. She needed knowledge, something she was sad to admit in having very little of. She cursed, wishing she had paid more attention to all her tutors, especially her math tutor.

"I studied this already in my old school," Serena replied confidently. "It's easy stuff."

Darien nodded as he donned a pair of silver rimmed glasses. "Yeah, I know what you mean. We did this back in our first year here. Professor Anthony just wants to review."

"So why are you writing everything down fervently?" Serena teased. Oh god! Was she flirting with him? No way, flirting with the spawn of Satan, she couldn't. Hell, she didn't even know how to flirt!

"For finals," he answered simply, "That and the weekly notebook checks. I'd remove those doodles and drawings and start writing the notes if I were you."

"Mr. Shields, perhaps you know the answer to problem 18?" Professor Anthony called out, disrupting their whispered conversation. "Or are you too busy talking with Miss Claire to answer?"

Darien calmly stared at the problem, and then smirked. "That's pi over six."

The professor nodded. "Miss Claire, number 20, if you please."

Serena gulped. What was written next to number 20 was sixty degrees. She looked at Darien's problem and saw thirty degrees. How did he get pi over six?

"Pi over three," a female voice whispered quietly to her. Serena turned towards the voice, seeing a quiet, blue haired girl for the first time. The girl had her head bowed down, staring into her textbook. She looked up at Serena, her eyes covered behind thick rimmed glasses, then immediately went back to stare at her book.

"The answer, Miss Claire? We don't have all day."

Serena faced the front of the room. "Pi over three?" she said unsurely.

The professor nodded. "Miss Anderson…" the professor continued to pick other students to answer the questions. The blue haired student, Miss Anderson, answered the question with ease.

"She's our year's valedictorian," Darien whispered to her. "Amy Anderson, one of the smartest students to grace our school's halls. Total bookworm. Usually she just keeps to herself."

"She sounds like me," Serena lied. "We'll be perfect friends, I'm sure."

"Amy Anderson with friends? I doubt you can get close enough to her anyways. That girl surrounds herself with books, not friends."

Serena rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Amy and I can be best friends within a week."

"It's a bet then, pigtails." Darien grinned cheekily. "If you become friends with Bookworm Anderson by the end of this week, I'll do your math homework for a month without complaints."

Serena's eyes widened. This was just the escape she needed from math class. "And you'll help me with math tests as well," she said steely. "That or no deal."

He shook his head but continued smiling. "Deal."

"And what happens to me if I lose?" Serena asked curiously.

"Everyone, including the professors, calls you new girl," he replied.

Serena raised her eyebrows. That sounded so simple. Why would she care if people called her new girl? She was new, after all. "Deal."

"Have fun losing, new girl," Darien said. He got up from his seat and raised his hand.

The professor sighed. "Yes, Mr. Shields. What is it now?" It seemed this was a frequent occurrence by the way the professor responded.

"My Mother is meeting with me in a few minutes," was all he had to say for the professor to nod her head wearily.

"Yes, of course Mr. Shields. I wouldn't want to have Mrs. Shields wait too long." By the sound of it, Darien's mom had power over the professor, maybe even throughout the school. Interesting.

Darien faced her and wink, just before he put on a disgusted look on his face. " See you later, new girl. Next time, don't talk to me. In fact, don't sit so close to me. I know you think I'm drop dead gorgeous and all, but I already got a girlfriend." He winked at a group of girls in the classroom before exiting. Everyone in class began to laugh, staring at poor Serena as she sank further into her chair.

"That idiot, cocky… ugh!" she grumbled, glaring at the now closed door. Why did he have to say that so loud?

"Settle down class!" Professor Anthony ordered. She shook her head when the others continued to laugh. "Turn to pg 90. You'll find tonight's homework, due tomorrow. Start it now if you wish," she ordered. Serena did as she was told, staring at the problems as if they were written in an alien language. Oh, she couldn't wait till she beat Darien.

After class had ended, Serena jogged to catch up to Amy Anderson. She wasn't just becoming friends with Amy for the bet; that was just a bonus. No, she wanted to become friends with the brainy girl because it was whom Serena Claire associated with. Smart people hang out with other smart people. As Serena Claire, she had to show her peers that she was a nerd. She winced. The class probably thought her one with Darien making fun of her already.

"Hey! Wait up!" Serena called, latching onto the other girl's arm. Amy jumped and immediately turned around. Serena took a deep breath and smiled. "Hi, I'm Serena."

"You scared me," the other girl said, blue eyes staring at her accusingly.

Serena blushed. "Err… Sorry about that."

"I already know about that bet Serena. I overheard you two talking back in class. There's no point in trying to win," Amy said quietly, a hurt expression on her face.

Serena immediately felt terrible. She never wanted to hurt this girl's feelings. "I'm so sorry. It's just that I needed help with my math homework and that idiot kept bugging me… Please, I really do want to be friends with you. It's hard being the new girl and not knowing anyone."

"You seem to know Darien Shields pretty well. He kept on talking to you," Amy coldly pointed out.

Serena shook her head. "It seems he only likes to pick on me."

"I'm sorry Serena. You seem like a nice person, but I'm not sure if I can trust you," Amy silently admitted. Abruptly she turned away and hurried off to her next class.

Serena stared after her, completely floored. Surely she could have be more convincing than that? She was an actress for god's sakes! Why, Amy should be jumping for joy to be her friend, especially after she had apologized. She could just imagine Darien with devil eyes pointing and laughing at her.

"You just wait Amy Anderson; you'll be my best friend in no time." She pushed away the image of the taunting Darien from her mind. She didn't know where this sudden rivalry popped up, but she couldn't just lose a bet to Darien. He already made a fool out of her twice. A third time would be degrading. "And you just wait, Shields. You'll be doing my homework and tests for me… with pleasure." An evil grin sprang from her lips as she skipped off to her next class, humming the doom song under her breath.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **What will happen next, I wonder? Find out in the next chapter. And do review. I thrive off of them. :D


	3. The Roommate

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Three**

It had been a tiring first day for Serena. Her brain was crammed full of scholarly facts, as well as the little bet that had been preoccupying her mind all day. She slammed the door shut to her dorm room and dropped her textbooks and notes onto her twin-sized bed. She looked across the room, seeing the neatly made bed still unoccupied. She had yet to meet her roommate, who she hoped would be a new friend.

Originally, she had planned on having a single bedroom, her own personal haven. After finding out just how hard it was to make new friends, she quickly agreed on being put up in a double. All she knew was a name. Mina Lovegood. Sounded nice enough. Though the bed was neatly made, random articles of clothing and shoes scattered her area of the floor space.

Serena sighed and sat down in front of her desk. She turned on her laptop and scanned through her e-mails, discarding the junk mail and reading what she deemed appropriate. She winced when she read a particular e-mail from Raye. It seemed the black haired beauty noticed one of her comic books was missing. She hastily deleted that message before logging off.

Serena stared up at the clock. It was almost dinnertime. Perhaps she could start some of her homework. She rolled her chair over to her bed and then rolled back to her desk. She cracked the book open and read through the science questions for chapter one. She groaned. There was no way she could survive school if the kind of work they gave were like this. How the hell was she going to play catch up? The class was already on chapter ten and she was at a total loss.

She snagged her purse and searched through it until finally finding her cell phone. She skimmed through the address book and quickly dialed Luna's number. It rang five times.

"Hello?" Luna's voice filled the earphone.

"Luna! You've got to save me! I can't last another day here!" Serena screamed, hoping her voice sounded terrified enough.

"Why? What's wrong, Serenity?" Luna asked, concerned.

"It's Serena by the way," she said absentmindedly, correcting her agent. "But I can't survive in this school, Luna. I don't have the brains to be here. They were talking about food in math class and I was just so confused! It involved fractions I think. Why would they talk about pie and the answer would be fractions?"

"Eh, maybe they were discussing ½ of a pie, or ¾ of a pie," Luna responded, unsure herself.

"But we weren't learning fractions, Luna. I know fractions, and those weren't fractions."

Serena could hear the other woman rummage through papers, probably trying to find her school schedule.

"You're learning calculus, Sere," Luna said dully after a few minutes. "You were talking about pi, not pie. You know, P-I."

Serena pouted. "What happened to the E?"

There was a pause on the other line, then laughter. "Ah Serena, you're good. I know your trick. Yes, what is pi indeed? I'm glad to know your sense of humor is still intact. If that's all Serena, I'll be hanging up now. I have a meeting with the director, Mark Waters. You know, the guy who directed Mean Girls? Well, talk to you later, dear," Luna said quickly as she immediately ended the call.

Serena stared at her phone disbelievingly. The woman hung up on her!

Laughter sounded from the hallway and came closer towards her door. Serena scowled. Didn't they know it was impolite to laugh that loudly in public?

The laughing person seemed to stop right at her door. She heard the scrapping of the key and then a click as the door opened. The girl continued to laugh as she opened the door a crack, facing a friend who was still out in the hall. "I'll see you later at dinner, Molly!" the blonde cried out cheerfully as she entered the dorm room and shut the door. The girl's blue eyes swept across the room until it landed on her.

"Oh, you're new," the girl said, smiling. She extended her arm and shook Serena's hand. "I'm Mina. I'll be your roommate for the rest of the year. If you ever need any help, feel free to ask."

Serena was momentarily surprised. Never before had she met someone so friendly. "I'm Serena," she replied back, a timid smile on her face. Serena nudged her glasses upwards. "You look familiar." She studied the other girl closely.

Mina smiled sheepishly. "I get that a lot. People say I'm a Serenity Blair look-alike." She pointed to her end of the room, showing off a poster she hadn't noticed before. Mina shifted in her spot, as if uncomfortable to discuss the matter further. "I just came by to drop these books off. Will you be going to dinner soon?"

Serena bit her lip, unsure of what to say. The girl did look like her old self. It was like looking into the mirror. There were differences of course. Mina's hair was a shade lighter than her own locks. At that thought, she tugged at one of her braids, the brown hair alien to her. Yet as she continued to look at Mina, she couldn't help but feel a vague recognition. She saw the girl somewhere before, and it wasn't at this school.

Mina waved her hand over Serena's eyes. "Hello, you there?" she said jokingly. Serena snapped out of her thoughts.

"Err, yeah, I'm going to dinner as well."

"Well come on then. We shouldn't be late for dinner."

Serena nodded in agreement and followed her out.

* * *

Serena found herself situated between Mina and a guy who went by the name of Melvin. They talked about the upcoming social dance, and then started interrogating her about her past. "There's not much to discuss," she said. "All I ever did was study," she laughed. Mina and the redhead named Molly looked at her dubiously. Melvin, however, agreed whole-heartedly with her good study habits. By the way he dressed she knew he was the type she needed to hang out with.

"Oh, did you hear about Amy Anderson?" Molly asked, her eyes glistening with excitement. The rest of them shook their heads.

"A few of the girls found her crying in the locker rooms. The ice queen finally cracked!"

Mina must have noticed Serena's shock filled expression because she immediately changed the subject. "I hear Darien Shields has his eye on the new girl." She winked at Serena. "Although I'm slightly surprised." Mina looked at her thoughtfully. "You're not exactly his type."

Molly snorted. "Let me guess, you're his type. Am I right?"

Mina sniffed. "I'd say so. He did go out with me once."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her Serena," Molly said. "She went out with Darien in the third grade. He dumped her right after play time."

Serena held back her giggles. The two of them were hilarious. Her thoughts flew back to Amy though. "Do you guys by any chance know where I can find Amy? I need to ask her about our math assignment," she fibbed. She nudged her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, she forgot she was even wearing them.

Melvin shrugged. "She should be around. Everyone in our year has lunch now."

"You might want to try outside," Molly suggested. "She's usually alone. She likes to isolate herself."

Just as she was about to stand up, an unsettling presence showed up. "Well, if it isn't the three M's. Oh and look!" Darien said, now focusing his attention solely on her. "I'm sorry to say this new girl," he said, a sad look on his face. "But you're at the wrong seat. Your name doesn't start with an M."

Mina and the rest just stared down at their lunches, trying their best to ignore him and his remarks. Serena however would have none of it.

"And just why would that matter if my name doesn't start with an M? You're just making another dumb rule from you equally dumb mind." She jabbed her finger at his firm chest. "Why don't you start making those copies of future math homework, hmm? Once I win, you'll be busy with math, math, and more math!"

Darien moved closer towards her, leaning down on her sitting figure until his lips were mere centimeters from her ear. "I never lose," he whispered huskily. Straightening up, he gave the group a cocky smile. "See you around M's. Prepare to lose, new girl." He did his customary wink, making both Mina and Molly sigh dreamily, and then he promptly left.

Serena crushed her canned drink in her fisted hand. "Ooh! He just makes me so angry!" she hissed, watching as Darien settled in a table deemed 'The Cool Kids' Table'. She watched as a particular red head clamp onto his side. She felt a twinge of jealously as she saw the couple, although she didn't know why. It wasn't

"I would say ignore him, but he seems focused on flirting with you," Melvin said. He turned his attention back on his lunch.

"Flirting? Flirting! Darien Shields was NOT flirting with me!" Serena screeched, gaining the attention of even more classmates.

"Calm down Serena," Molly said, offering a piece of her chocolate bar. Serena snatched it and savored the taste of the sweet substance.

"Thanks Molly," she said once her temper settled down. Molly smiled in response.

Mina had a twinkle of mischief in her blue eyes. "I think Melvin's right. Darien Shields was so flirting with you."

Serena shook her head. "I can't believe you consider that flirting. He was practically taunting me. Besides, he has a girlfriend."

"You mean Beryl?" Mina shrugged. "She's always been pining after him. Darien's very much single. He has been for a few months now. Besides, taunting… flirting… same thing."

Serena grinned. "I can't believe you guys." She began to laugh, causing the rest of the group to laugh as well.

* * *

She never did get around in talking to Amy that day. At night, she found herself at a makeshift sleepover party, which included Mina, Molly, and herself.

She had returned from the bathroom, fully ready to go to sleep, when she saw both Mina and Molly waiting patiently for her to return. Junk food was on their laps, as well as a heavy duty makeup set.

"It's slumber party time!" Mina yelled excitedly, bouncing on her spot of the bed. "We gotta celebrate your first day."

Serena immediately covered her eyes. She had removed her colored contact lenses and forgot to put on her glasses, which was stuffed in her bag. "I forgot something in the bathroom. I'll be right back," she said and slammed the door shut.

She ran past the other girls in the hall, making sure to look down so no one could see any differences to her appearance. She doubted they would notice though. After all, it was still the first day of school. The bathroom was thankfully empty when she entered. She locked the door so it would remain that way.

"That was a close one," she mumbled to herself. She walked over to the mirror and stared back at the stranger who had her eyes but not her hair. She was beginning to miss her blue eyes. Luna herself said it was her best feature.

She touched the coolness of the mirror and sighed. It had only been a day and already she missed being Serenity Blaire. She twirled a lock of her brown hair and then released it. The strands fell calmly back in its place, just pass her shoulders.

Yes, she missed her old hair too… and the makeup. Oh, did she miss the makeup! She never did appreciate that much makeup before, but now…. Her face felt so naked without the usual foundation, powder, and blush. The glasses looked horrible on her, and her contacts hid away her pretty blue eyes.

She just had to accept the changes. She was an actress after all. She could do it. "Don't be silly," she said out loud. "You never had to act twenty four hours a day for several months."

Serena snatched her bag that she settled against the counter and searched for her contacts case. "Goodbye blue eyes," she sighed dramatically. She placed each contact on her eyes and blinked a few times. Gray eyes stared back at her. She blinked again, feeling the tears that wanted to break out. "I will not cry, I will not cry," she murmured. She donned the glasses and sighed. Her look was complete. She was Serena Claire once again, and already she hated it. She felt like she was lying to herself as well as lying to everyone else. "This isn't the real me," she said to no one in particular.

She walked back to the room, the other two girls looking at her curiously.

"There you are!" Mina said. "What happened to you? Fell in the sink or something?" Mina joked.

"It's fell in the toilet, Mina," Molly corrected her offhandedly.

Serena just shook her head as she turned around to lock the door. "Are you staying the night, Molly?" she asked.

Molly shook her head. "Nah. I have to sneak back to my room before Professor Lass makes her rounds."

"That woman keeps us grounded here." Mina frowned. "I tried sneaking to a night showing of the Dresden Dolls but that witch of a woman caught me."

"Mina, you were screaming in the hallways. Of course she was bound to catch you," Molly said.

"But I was excited," Mina whined. "What a waste of $40. I really wanted to go too. I dressed up and had the painted white face too. Man, so disappointing. The Dresden Dolls are so cool. Their old cd is better in my opinion. Miss Me and Half Jack are awesome songs." Mina started singing one of the lines to the songs. Serena didn't know which one though. She was more into pop music than anything. Serena settled herself onto her empty bed. Molly tossed a bag of chips in her direction, which she just barely managed to catch.

"So, how do you like school so far? Exciting? Boring? Challenging?" Mina asked, chomping down on her own bag of chips.

"It's different to what I'm used to," she said honestly.

"Yeah, you went to public school, right? I wouldn't be able to survive public schooling. I hear there's gangs and kids bringing knives or guns to school," Molly said naively.

"It's not that bad," Serena said defensively, even though she never stepped foot in a public school herself.

"Sure it isn't," Mina said. She paused for a second. "There's lots of drug problems though, isn't there? That can't be good."

Serena inwardly groaned. They wanted to debate, but she was not qualified to even have an opinion on the subject. She was tutored, not schooled like the average American. "I guess so," she shrugged. "I didn't really pay attention to what my peers did. I was focused on my work."

"Ugh, work. You're just like Melvin." Mina wrinkled her nose.

Molly jumped off the bed. "I better go. It's getting late and Professor Lass is going to do her rounds soon." She rolled her eyes and then grinned. "See you guys tomorrow at lunch."

"Bye Moll!"

"Goodnight Molly."

Just as she was about to leave, a loud, screeching noise met their ears. Serena stared at the two of them in alarm. "What is that?"

"FIRE!" someone screamed from outside the hall, answering her question. Panicked footsteps could be heard as well as others evacuating their rooms towards the nearest exit.

"Someone please lend me shoes," Molly cried out as she snatched Mina's sandals. Serena and Mina put their shoes on as well and quickly joined the crowd of worried girls.

"This is quite a day for you, huh Serena? First day, and already you get to experience a fire drill," Mina joked.

"It's not a fire drill," a calm voice responded. The trio turned around to see the ever-quiet Amy Anderson.

"Amy!" Serena said in surprise. She blushed after noting her outburst. "I was looking for you earlier."

"What do you mean, Amy? Is this a real live fire?" Molly interrupted Serena.

Amy nodded. "Although I didn't notice any smoke, I saw the fire trucks approaching through my window."

A blonde head with a red ribbon through her hair could be seen bolting ahead of her friends, pushing pass the crowd to get to the exit sooner.

"Guess we should follow Mina, huh?" Molly said, quickening her pace. Serena and Amy both nodded and ran the rest of the way outside.

The fire trucks were parked expertly next to the curb, right across from the girls' dorms. From Serena's vantage point, she could see no smoke or fire in sight.

"Do you see anything at all?" Mina asked, already on her tiptoes, peering over everyone's heads. None of the girls reached passed 5'5'', so they couldn't see much.

Serena just shook her head. She looked over at Amy, who was sitting demurely on the grass, a book and flashlight in her hands. "So Amy, what are you reading?"

Amy shrugged. "Just some science journals my mom sent me. You wouldn't be interested." She had that right. Books were boring. Comic books on the other hand… she wondered when the next issue of Nana would come out.

"Look Amy, I just wanted to say that I really am sorry for what happened this morning… I was struggling in that class and when Darien offered a way out, I just had to snag it."

She looked up from her book. "You think you can solve your problem by cheating?" She shook her head. "If you need help, Serena, don't cheat. Just get a tutor or see the teacher for extra help."

"But if I lose, he'll have everyone call me 'new girl'," Serena whined.

Amy looked at her exasperatedly. "Serena, you're new. If you really need help in math, I'll even help you. Just don't gain bad habits because Darien Shield's trying to find a reason to talk to you."

"You will?" Serena asked, surprised. Her surprise then took a turn for the worst. "And what do you mean about that last bit? Darien Shield's is so infuriating!" she fumed.

Mina walked closer to them. "I told you he likes you," she told her. "You agree with me, right Amy?"

Amy blushed. "I honestly do think so."

"You're all against me! I can't believe this," Serena said, shaking her head. Her new friends laughed. After awhile, Serena held out her hand to Amy. "Friends?"

Hesitantly, Amy took it. "Friends," she nodded.

* * *

They stood there for what seemed like forever. A group of them huddled close together for warmth. It was a cold night out with no fire in sight. In the beginning, the girls had shrieked when seeing the boys milling about outside. After all, they were only in their sleeping clothes.

Serena had been unfortunate as well. It seemed Darien was placed on this earth to make her life a living hell. He had purposely made his way towards her and remarked on her pajamas. They had pink bunny heads on them. Enough said.

At least her hair was still in their neat braids. A few of the other girls had their hair mussed up from sleep and their faces covered in green goop. It was those beauty conscientious girls that she had pity for. They tried so hard during the day to attract the guys, including putting all that makeup on their faces, only to have to scare the guys with their nightly beauty secrets. Well, maybe not scare exactly. Most of her immature male classmates were laughing and pointing at the poor girls.

Melvin had managed to find them as well and now sat on the grass next to Molly. Amy was back to reading her science journals and Mina continued to babble about everything and nothing to no one in particular. Serena continued to stand, glaring at the 6 foot something male that refused to leave her alone.

"Chilly night, isn't it?" Darien said, after mocking her sleep wear.

"Sure is," she said nastily. She rubbed at her arms for warmth.

"Here," he said and tossed his jacket on top of her head, blocking her vision. She growled as she untangled the cloth from her head. "Put it on," he said simply after seeing her stare at it in her hands.

"But," Serena began to protest, but he quickly interrupted her with a laugh.

"I don't have cooties, I promise," Darien said.

Serena put on the warm green coat reluctantly. "Thanks," she grumbled.

He winked his annoying wink. "You're welcome, love."

She rolled her eyes in response, but her heart began to beat faster. Maybe there was a chance that the handsome Darien Shields would actually like her, the geeky Serena Claire.

"Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?" she said dryly. "She might get jealous with all the attention you're giving to me."

He laughed. "What girlfriend?" He gave her his infamous winks and walked away, hands stuffed in his pant pockets.

* * *

"The event that has occurred an hour ago is inexcusable. The culprits will be found out and given the appropriate punishment. Whoever has any information on the students who pulled the alarm, please speak with me privately on the matter," said the rumpled looking headmaster.

Serena was amidst the student body called upon the last-minute meeting in the auditorium. Professors and students alike were all half asleep. The excitement of a fire had long since burned away, especially when everyone found out there actually wasn't a fire.

"Expulsion can be expected for those certain troublemakers when they are found. However, if you stand up to your crimes now, you will only face a month's worth of detention," the headmaster droned on.

"Do you think he's almost finished?" Mina whispered to her.

Serena shook her head. "I honestly don't know. I hope so though. I wonder if we'll get a delayed start for classes…. I can't possibly wake up at six in the morning to get ready."

Amy, who was sitting next to Serena, began to speak. "He's going to make us continue with our regular schedule as punishment. He's done it before, he'll do it again."

"Well, that just sucks," Mina grumbled, her eyes drooping at each word.

Serena yawned in response, which led to several others yawning as well. "If only he'll shut up already…."

"I can't take this anymore! I need to sleep," moaned Molly as she got up from her seat and headed out the door. Serena and the rest of the group sprang out of their seats, closely following the red head and ignoring the teachers' warnings. Other students got the same idea and began to leave as well.

"Sleep!" Mina called out as they nearly ran to their dorm rooms.

"Oh, we're so going to get into trouble for this," Amy said worriedly.

"I'm sorry, but at the rate he was going, we would only get an hour's worth of sleep," Molly said.

The girls parted ways and entered their rooms. Mina dropped onto her bed and hugged her pillow. "Ah, I missed you pillow," she said tiredly as she closed her eyes.

Serena laughed as she kicked off her shoes and plopped onto the bed. "Good night Mina," she said. Mina didn't respond; she was already asleep. A few minutes later, Serena met the same fate, only barely acknowledging that she was still wearing Darien's coat that distinctly smelt of roses.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Fixed minor errors and plot holes throughout this one. Despite re-reading again and again, I still find mistakes. If you see any, please let me know. So a social dance is in the works. Wonder who Serena will be going with? -wink- But that won't be till later on in the story. I also mentioned the Dresden Dolls show that Mina was supposed to attend. I honestly don't think that Mina would listen to them. Doesn't fit with her 'personality', but I like them and it's my story so… there! Ha! Well, I think I rambled on long enough. Do leave me a nice, long review. It's deeply appreciated. Thanks for reading! 


	4. The Surprise

**Disclaimer: Some parts in this chapter are from the play, "Macbeth". **

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Four**

"Serena Claire, please stay after class for a few minutes," Professor Taylor, Serena's English teacher, informed her with an authoritative tone.

Serena sank lower into her seat and nodded in affirmation. She continued her descent towards the tiled floor until her chin nearly hit the edge of the wooden desk.

"What did you do?" A curious Mina whispered across from her. She had a red ribbon in her hair today, which stood out against her pale blonde hair. Her bangs were neatly styled and swept to the side. Her face was free of makeup, but she looked absolutely perky, especially for it being only eight in the morning.

Serena herself wasn't as fortunate. Waking up early just wasn't one of her favorite things to do each day. During filming, she'd wake up at the break of dawn, but she wasn't put through the torture of actually learning. She gently bumped her forehead against her desk and rested her head there for a moment. Face still down, she shrugged. "I don't know," she mumbled.

But she did know. The class had turned in their essays nearly three days ago. Serena did as well, but she didn't have to be a teacher to know her essay was less than acceptable. Her last English tutor never enforced the need to write essays. They mainly sat in the family study and discussed famous works of literature like _The Iliad _or questioning if the 'underground man' existed today. To be honest, she snoozed through most of those sessions.

"Professor Anthony talked to her as well," Amy's soft voice said to the left of her. Serena sat up straight on the uncomfortable chair and glared at her bookwork friend. Amy raised a neatly shaped eyebrow at her. "If you're having any trouble with your schoolwork, Serena--,"

"I'm fine, really I am," Serena cut off. "Professor Anthony just wanted to ask if I was adjusting well to our 'beloved school'." She leaned against the wooden backed chair and instantly wished for the swiveling office chairs that she had back in her own home. This was an expensive school. Why couldn't they purchase comfortable chairs?

"It's not just calculus though, Serena. You're also behind in physics." Amy's forehead creased in a troubled thought. "And I've seen you in statistics class. You always seem like you're about to be tortured whenever the professor writes something out on the board. I understand you were considered the top of your class but that was at your public school. Orcyrde Academy has different standards of difficulty. Maybe its best if you switch to a lower level in your trouble subjects?"

"Amy!" Mina said, aghast. Her hand shot up to cover her gaping mouth in surprise. She shook her head after a few seconds. "That's such a mean thing to say! Not everyone understands all that math and science stuff. She just needs a few more weeks to transition to the change, right Serena?"

Serena just gave a weak nod. If she didn't smarten up and fast, she'd be in all of Mina's classes, meant for the slow learning people. Mina was a party girl, just like her old self. Even this self was failing miserably at being a school nerd. She just wanted to ram her head against her desk again in frustration.

"I had to be blunt in order to get the point across, Mina. I wouldn't like to see Serena fail…. She's at a disadvantage, as you well know. We've all been schooled at the top private schools, but Serena's only just now experienced our way of life. I'm sure it must be difficult for her."

"I'm right here you know," Serena said, irritated. She sighed. "Let's just read this passage like Professor Taylor told us to do," she said, changing the subject.

"I've already read Macbeth, so you two could just finish up," Amy responded. The girl had a complicated looking physics guide in front of her. "Extra research," she said in explanation, then went back to her reading.

Mina grinned sheepishly. "I'm not a nerd like Amy," she stuck her tongue out at the smart girl in a teasing manner, "but I've already read this as well." Mina pushed the heavy book onto Serena's desk.

Serena stared down at the book, then at her two friends. "Were we supposed to read this over the summer or something?"

Both her friends shook their heads. Serena didn't want to be the only one reading…. The name Macbeth sounded familiar to her. Hopefully when the teacher began the discussion, it would trigger some part of her memory to remember the story.

She feigned surprise. "Wow, I've read this already too." She laughed. "I guess we're done then."

"You have just a few more minutes, class," Professor Taylor announced from the front of the room. She rather liked Professor Taylor so far. She wore the same chic, black pencil skirt with a ruffled top. Her lectures were somewhat interesting. If only it weren't so early in the morning….

Serena closed the book, then took off her glasses and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cool desk. She could hear the desks scraping against the floor, probably moving them back to their proper rows. She leaned her cheek against the surface and gave Amy a questioning look. Amy and Mina still hadn't moved from their spot next to her.

"We don't have to move just yet," Amy told her, nodding her head towards another group who were still busy reading.

"Wow Serena, you're so pretty without your glasses!" Mina immediately covered her mouth in shock once again. It was one of Mina's quirky habits that she had. "Not that you aren't always pretty," she tried to fix her blunder. She quickly began twirling her long hair nervously around her pointer finger and chewed on her glossed lower lip.

Serena shoved her glasses back on. "Ha," she laughed weakly. "Aren't you nice."

"Alright class," Professor Taylor said. "Let's try something new today. Who would like to be Macbeth?" If Darien had been in class today, Serena was sure he'd get the part. In his place, another boy with brown hair and pale green eyes took the part as Macbeth. He seemed like a decent guy, but she knew he hung out with Darien's crowd. That always spelled trouble in her book.

"And Lady Macbeth?" None of the girls raised their hands. She noticed Mina fidgeting with her pencil and acting oddly. Professor Taylor scanned the room, her eyes focusing on… "Miss Claire, care to play Lady Macbeth?"

Serena shrugged. It couldn't be that hard. It was her chance to gain extra brownie points in the class. After all, she needed it. She put on her meek act as she nodded her head in a demure manner. "Sure. I'd love to."

"Alright, we'll start with Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, I want you two to act this scene out. There's also a messenger in this scene, but we'll just skip that part for now." She walked over to the two students and handed them a paperback version of _Macbeth_. "Go to the front of the room now and please take this seriously. The rest of you, follow along in your books. I believe it is on page 339."

Serena trailed after her fellow classmate to the front of the room. She found the spot in the book and stared calmly back at her classmates. She glanced at her acting partner. He seemed… nervous somehow. Was she supposed to be nervous too? They were merely acting after all.

"Start on line 15, Serena," Professor Taylor ordered.

Serena nodded and scanned the lines before and after it, trying to pick up the tone of voice so she could imitate it. She took a deep breath, and then started. "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature. It is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way."

She continued along, making sure to fully enhance her emotions through her facial expressions and bodily movements. She finished line 58 and stopped with a flourish. It was Macbeth's turn to speak. She stared down at the book, waiting to hear Macbeth's lines, but they were never uttered. Curiously, she looked up and stared at Macbeth. He was staring at her oddly. The professor and her classmates seemed to have been caught up in the silence as well.

One lone voice broke the stillness after what seemed like hours. "Bravo!" Professor Taylor called out, clapping her hands ecstatically. Her classmates soon followed in her example. Clapping filled her ears, as well as hooting and other such calls. Serena looked at them, shocked. "That was simply marvelous, Miss Claire. I haven't seen such professional reading like that in years. My, you would be a lovely addition to our school's theatre group."

"Uh, thank you, but no thanks. I can't act." Serena quickly mumbled and hurried back to her seat. She sat down and buried her head within her arms.

"Can't act?" Mina whispered in disbelief from her seat next to her. "I consider myself a good actress, but I could never pull off what you just did.

Serena stared at her friend. "What are you talking about?"

"You brought Lady Macbeth to life, Serena. You were brilliant," Amy commented as she closed her book. She gathered the rest of her textbooks into a side pile on her desk.

Before she could respond, the bell rang. Students promptly carried their things and walked swiftly out of the door.

"Hurry up with Professor Taylor's chat, alright? I don't want to be too late for lunch today like last time," Mina said. Mina then looked at the blue haired girl then demanded, "And you, you'll be eating lunch with us this time."

Amy blushed. "I guess I'm just so used to eating by myself that it's become habit to walk outside and not into the cafeteria."

The two followed their classmates out the door while Serena walked over towards her professor.

"Serena, you have a gift and that gift is acting," Professor Taylor said. "Now, I usually don't do this but I'll make an exception for you. I'll be more lenient on you when it comes to your essays," the professor visibly winced, "if you improve your writing skills AND join this year's play."

"That's all?" Serena asked in surprise.

Professor Taylor nodded. "You're friends with Miss Anderson, correct? Well, have her help you on your essays. She could proofread it for you and give you some pointers. Miss Anderson is a brilliant student who would be delighted in helping a friend out."

Serena silently agreed and nodded in approval.

"Now as for this play, the drama professor decided it should be based on 'Romeo and Juliet'. You'd be just perfect to play Juliet."

Serena frowned. "You said based on. Do you mean that it'll be modernization of the original?"

Professor Taylor smiled. "Yes, that's what's happening for this play. I don't know the full details of course, so that's why I want you to go see Professor Winthorpe as soon as possible. She's the drama teacher if you didn't know."

"Alright," Serena agreed.

Professor Taylor picked up a folder and searched through the bundle of papers. She picked one out and handed it to her. It was her essay. "I want you to work on this and hand it in to me by Thursday. That gives you three extra days, alright?"

Serena graciously accepted her horrible essay. "Thank you for the second chance."

"Thank you, Serena, for agreeing to be a part of the play. With you playing the lead, I'm sure we'll have a bigger audience than the previous years."

* * *

"You did what!" Luna screamed into the phone.

Serena winced and pulled the phone further away from her ear. "I said that I joined the school play."

"And just why exactly would you do a stupid thing like that?" Luna asked forcibly.

"How is joining the school play stupid?" Serena asked. She was confused. She could hear Luna's pen tapping from the other line. Serena visibly winced. That only meant one thing: Luna was annoyed. An annoyed Luna was not a nice person to talk to.

"It's stupid because it could give you away! People could see how you act and associate it to well, you! You have a distinct acting style, Serenity. If they see you on stage, people could see past the act and realize that you're Serenity Blair and not nerdy Serena Claire."

Serena sighed. "That won't happen, Luna. I'll make sure that it won't."

"At least tell me how you're doing in school. Are you the top of your class?"

"More like the bottom," she moaned. "Honestly, it feels like boot camp minus the physical labor. You just had to pick one of the hardest schools for me." Serena bit her lower lip and whispered closer to the receiver. "I'm failing all my subjects and even one of my friends is noticing it. If I remember correctly, she's the top student out of the whole school."

"Well, at least you're friends with her. You could imitate her when we start filming that show."

Serena nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. You just need to remember that I didn't even try out for the part yet."

"That doesn't matter. All the important people already know you have the part. So, how's life at your school? Met anyone?" Luna asked teasingly.

Serena sighed. "Well, there's this jerk that keeps bugging me in almost all my classes…"

"Is he cute?" she prodded further.

"Yes… no! No, he isn't cute. Luna! Why are you even asking that?" Serena groaned. She picked up her pillow and fluffed it up before lying back down on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling while waiting for Luna's response.

"I can tell you're lying to me, Serena," Luna said. "It'll do you good if you get a boyfriend as well. Remember what the show's about."

"Yeah, yeah. You mentioned something about the nerdy girl falling for someone."

"The script says that the lead falls for a handsome jock type. Hey, is your 'jerk' a jock type?"

"Um, maybe? Why?"

"Serenity dear, off the record so your father won't kill me when I tell this of you: snag him."

Serena blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Make him your boyfriend."

"But I'm only staying here for a few months!" she yelled into the receiver.

"The average amount of time couple's go out are two to three months."

"That's it?" she repeated weakly. That was disappointing. "What makes you think I can get a hot guy like him to even look at me as girlfriend material? I'm dressed up in horrible clothes with these ugly glasses. Do you know I've been restricted from wearing makeup too? It's just horrible and I hate it." The door opened and Mina stormed in, followed closely by Molly and Amy. "Look, I gotta go, Luna. I'll talk to you later," Serena whispered hurriedly and shut off her cell phone.

"Who was that?" Molly asked as she made herself comfortable on Mina's bed. Amy did the same while Mina made her way towards her closet.

"Just a friend who thinks I'm nuts when I told her about me being in the play," she replied. "I was known to be quite shy at my old school."

They nodded their heads. "At least you're not as shy as Amy here," Mina joked as she rummaged through her clothes.

Serena looked at her curiously. "What's she doing?" she asked the other two girls.

"Play rehearsals of course. We don't have to wear our uniforms so I'm changing into some normal clothes for a change," Mina answered still poking around in her small closet.

Serena winced when she heard that. So far, she had gotten away with wearing only her school uniform and her nightclothes. She was used to the more glamorous fashions, not the plain clothes that Susan had designed or the ones from Walmart.

"You should change into more comfy clothes as well. God, I've been dying to wear jeans. I like skirts, but wearing it all the time with knee-high socks is just too much."

"I didn't know you were in the play, Mina," Serena said. "What part are you playing?"

"She was playing Juliet until you came along," Molly said with a sad smile on her face as she stared at her best friend.

Serena placed a hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry Mina! I didn't know they filled that part already."

Mina turned around and faced Serena. "Although I was a tad bit upset, I know you'd play a better Juliet than I could. The only thing I'll regret is missing out on kissing Darien." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Oh well, there's always next year." She winked.

Serena immediately stood up. "Did you just say kiss Darien? You mean I have to kiss Darien!"

"That is how the play ends, Serena," Amy said with her nose in a book.

"Except you get to kiss him more than once," Mina grinned. "You two would make the perfect couple."

Serena rolled her eyes. "He's not my type," she said off-handedly. She was worried. Kiss the jerk more than once? He was cute, she had to admit, but he was such a player and an annoying jerk.

"Aren't you going to change?" Mina questioned.

Serena nodded and walked up to the closet she shared with Mina. She discreetly pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "I'll go change in the bathrooms and meet you back here," Serena said.

Luckily, there was no one in the bathroom when she entered. She locked the door, wanting her privacy and hoping an angry classmate wouldn't come by any time soon. Serena held the plain cotton t-shirt in her hands. It was designed well enough, she guessed, but this was a girl who would wear silk and satin blouses on a daily occurrence. Although she'd forgo jeans for a more pretty skirt or pants, the few jeans she did possess were all designer brands that looked expensive. The jeans Susan had bought her were called Mudd Jeans. Why would anyone wear a piece of clothing that was named Mudd?

Serena removed her uniform consisting of a polo shirt, skirt, jacket, and tie. She removed her knee high socks as well. She dubiously picked up the pair of jeans and slid them on. They were a solid plain blue color, something that had gone out of style in the '90s. She took the shirt and put that one on quickly enough, glancing at her reflection. It was a cute shirt, she guessed after looking at it for a while. However, it was several sizes too big for her, hiding her figure. She sometimes saw other teen girls wearing shirts with cute phrases. Hers merely had a picture of glittering stars.

"This is a public bathroom!" Serena heard someone shout from the other side of the door. "Unlock the door already! I need in."

Serena grabbed her belongings while she yelled out a "sorry" to the person on the other side. She unlocked the door and ran out of the bathroom in a hurry, not stopping until she reached her dorm room.

"What took you?" Mina asked, annoyed as she brushed her hair. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."

Serena dumped her uniform onto her bed. "Where's Molly and Amy?" she asked.

Mina shrugged. "They left a few minutes ago." Mina put the brush down on her dresser. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

The various actors and actresses of the school sat in a semicircle on the stage. The drama teacher had a flair for words as she sang her praises about the future production.

"And since we have a new actress amongst us, why don't we all just mingle and get to know each other better?" the teacher stated cheerfully. "Come on students, up and about. We can't have laziness present on this stage after all."

Mina bounced out of her seat waved at Serena to do the same. "Do you need to be introduced to anyone here, Serena?" she asked

"Hello, new girl," a smooth, sexy voice said from behind her. She cringed and slowly turned around.

"Shields," she replied dutifully, nodding her head in greeting.

"You've been avoiding me," he stated, blue eyes twinkling with amusement as his lips formed a pout.

"Oh, just leave me alone jerk-face!" she screamed at him, frustrated. "And you're the one who hasn't been showing up to class lately."

"So does that mean you missed me? That's sweet."

Mina tugged at her shoulder and navigated her away from Darien before she could reply. "Do you really hate him that much? I agree, he can be a jerk at times, but most of the time, he's pretty agreeable with." Mina and Serena now stood in front of a tall girl, brooding silently at the corner of the stage.

"Hey Lita," Mina greeted the tall girl. The girl twirled her auburn colored hair and stared down at them. She studied Serena the most, her emerald eyes staring closely at her. Serena fidgeted in her spot, not liking the almost knowing stare that Lita was giving her. She didn't know the truth, did she?

"You two could be twins," Lita finally said, a smile on her face. "I'm Lita," she said, holding out her hand for Serena to shake. Serena let out a sigh of relief before shaking the taller girl's hand in return.

"You're in my art class if I remember correctly," Serena said. She was delighted, now she had a friend in that class.

She nodded. "I hear you got stuck being Lady Montague, Mina. What happened?" Lita asked curiously.

Mina laughed. "She stole my part." She nudged Serena playfully.

A looming figure blocked off the stage light. "Serena," his voice called out her name. It sent shivers down her spine. No one ever made that name sound so exotic before.

"What is it now, Shields?" Serena sighed.

He was standing there, hand rubbing at the back of his head. "Perhaps we can chat alone? I wasn't quite done talking to you."

Serena placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of my friends."

Mina and Lita gave each other a look, then stared back at Serena and Darien.

"They'd make such a cute couple, don't you think?" Mina whispered to Lita quickly, tuning out Serena and Darien and their conversation.

Lita continued to scrutinize Serena. "There's something off about her though… I can't put my finger to it. But honestly, I'm surprised that Darien Shield's even talking to her. She's not his type."

Mina frowned at this and stared at the brunette now whispering quietly to Darien. The girl, more out of habit, nudged her large framed glasses upwards. It was an unusual sight to see, the new school nerd and the popular jock together.

"You'd be a better match, Mina," Lita said. "With your blonde hair and his black, you'd be quite a stunning couple."

"You're wrong though, Lita," Mina replied with a gloomy tone. "Both their personalities just click. Besides, it's over between Darien and me." She sighed. "Secret relationships never do work out well, do they?"

Lita saw the tears beginning to form on Mina's face. She quickly embraced the girl in a hug. "You have a big heart, Mina. I'm sure you'll find the perfect boyfriend soon enough."

"Thank you, Lita. That's just what I needed to hear," she said.

Darien and Serena had both wandered a few feet away from them as they discussed what seemed to be a happy topic. Serena kept on grinning as she talked to Darien. "Hey," Lita directed towards Darien. "Do you think we can have our friend back now?" Her eyebrow rose as she waited for his answer. Both of them laughed. Darien shook Serena's hand and walked over towards his friends. Serena did the same, a glazed look in her eyes.

"Sorry we zoned out. Well, tell us the scoop!" Mina said anxiously.

Serena smiled. "The jerk finally apologized. He even agreed to do my math homework for me, but I told him Amy wouldn't like that. So then he agreed to help tutor me in math." Serena began to jump up and down. "Now I won't fail math! Yes!"

Lita stared at the brunette incredulously. "You mean to tell me that you both were whispering over ten minutes just to arrange a tutoring session?"

Serena frowned. "What else would I be talking about?"

The two girls listening intently fell over when they heard that.

"So he didn't ask you out?" Mina asked weakly.

Serena blushed. "We're taking the next step."

Both girls were all ears as they waited to hear Serena's answer.

"Friendship," Serena sighed happily.

Molly and Amy walked onto the backstage through the side door at that exact moment.

"Why are those two on the floor?" Molly asked as she walked over to Mina and helped her up. Amy and Serena did the same and helped Lita onto a nearby seat.

"You don't want to know, Moll," Mina said, shaking her head.

Lita nodded in agreement. "Definitely not."

* * *

The girls were wandering off towards the front lawn to relax. Classes were officially over for the day, as were most after school clubs. Amy was the only person in their group who carried a handful of books with her.

"You didn't seem to do much in rehearsal," Amy spoke out amongst the group.

Serena shrugged. "The teacher just gave me a copy of the play and told me to start memorizing my lines."

Lita stretched out but immediately stopped in her tracks. The rest of the group soon followed and stared at the figure that held Lita's attention.

It was a tall girl, although not as tall as Lita. She held herself with such confidence and grace. Her long fiery purple locks swayed with each step she took. She removed the Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses covering her eyes and smirked at the group, most specifically, Serena.

"Oh my god! Isn't that like, Raye Hino? Oh my god! What's she doing at our school?" Molly was jumping up and down in excitement. "Do you think I could get her photograph? Oh man, how cool would it be to have my picture taken with her?"

Amy just shook her head. "Who's Raye Hino? Is she famous or something?"

Lita too, was grinning madly. "Wow. Someone famous is gracing our school with her presence. This is so cool. But why would a supermodel be here? That just doesn't make any sense… unless the school's planning on having a program or something?"

Mina stayed still in her spot, her face void of emotions. That made Serena curious.

* * *

"Sere!" Raye called out haughtily. She was obviously putting on a show for the rest of the students. "You still didn't give me back my comic book!" she yelled jokingly. Serena didn't know whether to run up to her friend and give her a hug or scream at her for being here. Why was she here anyways? It had only been a two weeks at school. Did she hear from Luna that she was doing a horrible job so far at playing a student role? "Don't you even miss me in the slightest?" Raye asked; slight hurt in her voice.

Immediately, Serena made her decision and ran up to her best friend, trapping her in a bear hug. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked once the joy of seeing her had slightly faded.

Raye tossed a few strands of her dark purple hair over her shoulder. "I'm on break," she said dramatically. "And what are best friends for? I wouldn't want to miss seeing you acting like a nerd. Oh how the mighty have fallen." She laughed. With a well manicured nail, she poked the girl's glasses. "Totally not used to this 'you'," she whispered so only Serena could hear. "This is gonna be a treat, seeing you make a fool of yourself. You can't even do arithmetic in your head."

She huffed. It had only been two minutes and already the girl was getting on her nerves. "Raye, you're so mean!" she wailed.

Raye left her there and walked up to the group. She seemed to study each and every one of them, her chin held up high as if she were looking down at them. It didn't help that she was shorter than Lita. "Hello," she drawled out. She placed her shades over her eyes. "By you're expressions I'm guessing you already know who _I _am. It's a pleasure, I'm sure." In typical Raye fashion, she didn't bother to shake anybody's hands. She sniffed when Lita attempted to do so. Her temper nearly reared its ugly head when Molly fanatically gave the girl a quick hug after the mini introduction.

Serena was quick to help her friend pry the red head off of her, and shot the both of them apologizing looks.

Raye smoothed out the black, Marc Jacobs cropped jacket she was sporting, despite the warm weather. Serena wished she herself could follow the latest fashions too. Raye took to staring at her group of friends, and her jaw nearly dropped to the floor. You!" Raye yelled suddenly, pointing an accusatory finger at her roommate.

"You know each other?" Serena asked in surprise. Mina looked miserable but put on a brave face as she glared at Raye.

"What do you think you're doing here, Miss Hosh Posh? Why don't you go back to Phoneywood where you belong?" Mina said, steaming. Her hands were in tight fists, just waiting for the right moment to attack the purple haired girl.

"Excuse me, but that should be my line, imitator!" Raye huffed in response. She quickly turned towards Serena and glared. "How the hell can you be friends with this girl? She's such a cold twit who can't even gain stardom on her own."

"That's not true!" Mina cried out before Serena even got a chance to answer. "I gained that modeling deal fair and square! It's not my fault they only wanted me because I looked like someone else!" She broke into sobs and quickly ran away. Molly immediately ran after her best friend. Amy took the chance to observe the purple haired girl. Lita, on the other hand, looked ready to fight, even if the girl in front of her was famous.

"What is going on here?" Serena screamed as she turned to her best friend. "Raye, you're usually never this mean to anyone. What brought this on?"

Raye shook her head. "Don't you know who that is, Sere? She's that almost famous, would have been, ex-model that I was telling you about awhile back. I usually always get the job that I want, but then Miss Blondie comes along and takes it away from me. Do you know why they gave it to her and not me?"

Realization popped up in her eyes. "Oh, you mean she's the girl who pretended to be me—err, Serenity?"

Raye glared and quickly guided Serena away from prying ears. It seemed half of the school was outside watching the drama unfold before them. "Serena, you're gonna blow your cover," she hissed as they stood under a palm tree. "And yes, Blondie was the one who faked her way into that job by saying she was you. Now, when I heard that my best friend suddenly got into modeling, I knew something wasn't right. I mean, you're too short to be a model, but even then, you never showed an interest in modeling before."

"But wasn't it an honest mistake?" she said thoughtfully. "Didn't the agency just assume that she was Serenity and not just plain old Mina?"

"Maybe at first, but it was Mina who didn't correct them from the beginning," Raye said. "I even heard through the grapevine that her agent told her to change her name to Serenity on her papers. Can you believe that? The both of them are just creeps."

Lita and Amy walked over to them. Amy had an unusual glint in her knowledgeable blue eyes that made Serena uneasy. Lita was the one to talk, however. "Alright," she said. "You, I don't know who you are… alright, so I do know who you are and I won't ask for an autograph or anything since you were an ass to my friend, but what the hell just happened between the two of you? And you!" she pointed towards Serena. "How did a girl like you become friends with a famous model like her? First Darien, now her? Is there something you're not telling us? Are you like, an heiress or something like that?"

"Uh," Serena said as she racked her brain for an answer. She decided to go with the truth. "No, not an heiress." She thought back to what Luna told her of her background. "I'm actually here with financial aid and the scholarship I received. Free tuition, how could I possibly pass that offer down?" She smiled weakly.

"I never did understand that. Is this a new scholarship? Our school doesn't usually offer scholarships with free tuition," Amy said softly. "I should be one to know, I haven't received anything like that thus far, and I'm the top in the class."

Lita scoffed. "Try the whole school." Lita stared down at her new companion. "Um, when did you suddenly become friends with the gang?"

Amy blushed. "You'll have Serena to thank for that."

Serena patted her timid friend in the back, then focused on Raye. "Alright now, since you seem to be attending this school with me, although for the life of me, I don't know why, you're going to have to promise me one thing."

"And what's that?" Raye asked.

Serena gave her an evil smirk. "You need to be civil to Mina," she said.

Raye began to walk towards the main school entrance. In her hand was a fully packed Louis Vuitton suitcase. "We'll see about that one, Sere. You know me, I just don't do civil."

The next few weeks were going to be hell. Raye acted more of an diva than she ever did. And if she wanted to keep up appearances as being an unpopular girl, she'd have to stay clear of Raye. With the girl's looks and attitudes, she was sure she'd fit in perfectly with only the most popular girls in school. She had a nagging feeling in her chest. Would Darien find Raye attractive? She quickly slapped her cheek. Who was she to care if he found Raye beautiful?

"Just friends," she said to herself as she power walked to catch up to her best friend.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Man, all those English classes back in high school actually pay off. lol! We'd have to do the same thing with acting out the lines. I love acting, but I'm not as good as Serena. No lead roles for me. The Iliad and Macbeth were mentioned in this story. The underground man comes from Dostoevsky's N_otes from Underground_, if you don't already know. At least I learned something in my European history class. I had a tough professor who thought himself above everyone since he graduated from some posh Ivy League school. Enough said. Ha! So what will happen next that Serena is forced into the limelight? Find out soon in the upcoming chapters. Do review! I'll heart you forever if you do. :) 


	5. The Proposal

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Five**

It had only been a day since Raye's arrival, and already Serena knew the following days were going to be a bumpy one. Her supermodel best friend just wasn't cracked out to be a normal student, much less be the best friend of 'nerdy and super uncool Serena Claire'.

Accompanying her best friend during registration was almost as bad as those other times when Raye would spends hours at a single store, trying on various pieces of clothing, only to leave empty handed. The usual were involved, consisting of yelling at the secretaries, yelling at each other, and of course, yelling into her cell phone. Raye never could control that temper of hers.

The biggest problem was the fact that Raye wasn't expected, at all, to attend school. Her lack of transcripts would have been the first decision of kicking her out, if it weren't for the fact that she was The Raye Hino. No one messed with the young supermodel. If they did, they'd get bitched out by her. If they had thick skin and a shield of ice, they'd just get a call from daddy dearest. Having the secret service hassle you at your door was also an alternative to those deemed an 'annoyance' to The Raye Hino.

Hell, she was The Serenity Blair, but _she_ would never go to those extremes. She never so much as sent her bodyguards after the paparazzi; no matter how many times those annoying people followed her and invaded her privacy.

"You don't seem to understand, Mah-rye-ah, I want to room with Serena Claire and no others. How hard can it be to kick that phony blondie out of her room so I could stay with Serena?"

She nudged her friend and frowned at the girl's use of name calling. Raye ignored her with a shake of her head. Her four inched BCBG Girl heal kept tapping against the marble of the office floor. Her arms were folded and she looked non-too-pleased.

"I understand that, Miss Hino, but that's against the rules. Now, we can offer you your own room instead of sharing with any of the other girls. Would that be more to your liking?"

"Just say yes," Serena said behind grinded teeth. "You know we wouldn't be able to survive if we lived together."

Raye seemed to ponder it for a moment before finally relenting. "Okay, fine. I guess that'll do. Now, about my schedule…." The lady smiled weakly at the two of them. You could practically smell the fear coming off of the poor secretary. "I want the same classes as Serena, here. Got that?"

The secretary slowly tapped the keys onto the keyboard and after a few minutes, wobbled towards the printer. Raye cringed in disgust. "They actually let women work if they're in _that _condition?" she hissed to her.

Serena shrugged. "She's only pregnant, Raye. It's not like the baby is zapping her brainpower or anything."

"I doubt that."

The very pregnant lady in her floral pattern shirt walked back to the counter and handed Raye several sheets of paper. "Alright, Miss Hino, let me be the first to welcome you here. Included is your class schedule, as well as other pertinent information. Feel free to stop by if you have any further questions. With a shaky hand, she handed over the documents.

Raye snatched it quickly from her and strode out the door. Serena meekly thanked the secretary and followed her wayward friend.

The matron was quick to show them to the new bedroom. Serena couldn't help but notice how much larger and nicer it was compared to her own. Raye tossed her suitcase next to what appeared to be a walk in closet and sank into the plastic chair provided to all the students.

"Man, what a day! All that yelling's made me tired." She yawned. "What's there to do around here anyway? I'm up for clubbin', or a chill lounge. I just want to meet a cute guy. I swear Chad has been driving me up the wall these past few days." She shook her head. "I mean, if he really liked me, he would've bought me a gift, like a diamond necklace or something. He can afford it. But no… you know what he does instead? He wakes me up at three fuckin' a.m. in the morning and starts singing, SINGING to me. He actually wrote me a useless song! Can you believe that?"

Serena sat down on the bed. "Um, isn't that a good thing? I'd be flattered if a guy wrote me a song. You can tell he's really into you."

"That's not the point, Serena."

"It isn't?"

"It means we don't click! You know… we're too different or whatever." She sighed. "So I decided I needed a break from all that drama and just watch you're life roll along."

"You didn't have to phrase it like that, you know. You could've just said you missed me."

"Whatever." Her stomach growled. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving! What're the good restaurants around here?"

Serena never even left the school building. How was she supposed to know? Not that much time had passed for her to know the place. "There's the dining hall. I think Sloppy Joe's are today's special."

"Please say you're joking, right?"

"Uh… I'm joking?"

Raye unzipped her Gucci tote and pulled out her blackberry. "I can't believe you, Serena. You actually eat in the dining room with the commoners?"

Serena covered her face with her hands in shame. "I can't believe I'm friends with you." Raye stuck out her tongue. "Oh, really mature, Raye. Honestly, what are you doing now?"

Raye began dialing a number. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm calling takeout."

"From where? L.A.? Raye, we're two hours away from L.A.! Even I know that!" Raye tossed the phone back in her tote carelessly. "Seriously, Raye, if I can eat dining hall food and survive, then so can you."

Her stomach made another noise. "I guess my tummy agrees with you. Lead me to the food."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miss Raye. Just this way, Miss Raye."

Raye smirked. "So glad you've learned your place after all these years."

"Whatever. I'm hungry. Come on." She yanked on the taller girl's arm. "Oh, and make sure you act civilly to the others, alright? None of that prima donna act you had going on before."

* * *

If the food fight between Raye and Mina was any clear indication, she knew she had to do something, and quick. Dinner had been horrifying; gaining the attention of everyone in the room as the famous Raye Hino treated nerdy Serena as if they were the bestest friends in the whole world. They were, of course, but she was supposed to be uncool! Maybe it was a sign that she just couldn't pull off being a nerd. A geek, perhaps. She did have a soft spot for comic books, after all.

She noticed beforehand that Darien wasn't in the dining hall. First class, now dinner. It wasn't like him. A scream startled her from her thoughts. Poor Amy, sitting back straight, appeared to have apple sauce dripping down from her bangs

"Sorry, Amy!" Mina said before quickly launching her peas towards Raye.

Her best friend wasn't playing innocent in the fight either. Grabbing her half full can of diet Coke, she splashed it onto a surprised Mina.

From there, the professors at hand rushed over the duo and were quick to assign detention. The rest of the group escaped their wraths and left for their prospective rooms. Raye shot her a pleading look. She shrugged in response. Nothing she could do about it.

* * *

Mina had arrived late last night, still dressed in her stained uniform. She grumbled something about "that evil bitch" before snagging her Pink pajamas and heading towards the showers. Serena couldn't help but feel horrible for the situation. What was she to do though? She slept, dreaming of flying food and a kiss shared between her Romeo. She couldn't help but smell the scent of roses. She cuddled the jacket she still had to return to its owner.

The next morning, she decided to give her agent a call. "Alright, Luna," Serena crooned into the phone, her voice sweet and suspiciously innocent. "You're going to explain to me why Raye's here, making my life miserable. Okay?" She fluttered her eyelashes for effect, even though she was talking to her over the phone.

"There's not much to tell, Sere," Luna said. She paused. "Why? Is she causing trouble?"

Serena leaned deeper against her pillows and sighed. "You could say that. She already found somebody to scream at."

"Somebody besides you?" she asked, amusement laced in her voice.

"Yes," she drawled out tiredly. "It's my roommate, Mina."

"You're kidding! Why's that?"

"Let's just say they met before." Serena skimmed over the room. She was forgetting something. "Oh crap! I got to go, Luna. I need to be at practice right now. Sorry for the short chat." She worriedly stared at her clock. "I'll talk to you in a little bit, alright? Bye!" She hung up before she heard a reply and jumped out of bed. She was still in her nightgown and still had to take her morning shower. Cursing, she shook a stubborn Mina awake and ran to the bathroom. She heard Mina moan. She probably noticed the time.

She stood in front of the mirror and ran her fingers through her wet, messy hair. With one final look, she scrammed out of the bathroom and ran all the way towards the auditorium. "I'll see you there, Mina!" she yelled out to her friend before she left, who was still in one of the stalls. Her stomach grumbled along the way.

* * *

The first thing she noticed as she stepped foot on the stage was Raye, sitting front and center. She had a bored look on her face, her head propped up with her hand. She wasn't alone. Meek Amy sat next to her, a science textbook out on her lap. Serena walked closer to the edge of the stage, then sat down once she was close enough. "What are you doing here, Raye? I know you'd rather be meditating or something wacko like that. Oh, hi, Amy," she said as an afterthought.

Amy nodded briefly, then went back to her textbook. Raye, however, just smirked. "I want to see how badly you'll mess this up," she fibbed to her friend. "How many times did you trip on stage already? Fifty times?"

Serena huffed. "I'll have you know that I didn't trip once yet."

Raye laughed. "We'll see about that, Ser-en-a," she said teasingly.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Raye. Whatever. You guys eat breakfast yet? I totally had to skip and I'm starving!"

Raye shrugged towards Amy. "We met up at breakfast, actually."

She heard a clap further down stage. "Alright, people, let's get ready now." Serena slowly got up and faced the director. Professor Winthorpe smiled at her rising star and walked over towards her. "Miss Claire, our fair Juliet, what scene have you memorized up to?"

It had only been a day, but Serena took her acting job seriously. "I've already finished, Professor Winthorpe."

The director looked amazed. "Really now? Well, let's put your memorization to the test." She looked around at the crew. "Hmm, scene VI seems about right to me. Into your positions people! We only have two hours of practice after all before lunch."

A few students looked slightly confused, their fingers skimming through their lines, trying to find the right scene. Mina was one of those people, but instead of looking inside her own script, she walked over to Serena.

"Hey," she whispered. "What's scene VI again?"

"That's the scene when you find out I dumped the guy you wanted me to date," Serena replied back smoothly. "That's also when I decide to leave my family and run off with Romeo."

Mina nodded her head. "Thanks. It's hard, having to learn new lines again."

Serena smiled sympathetically. "At least we don't have to worry about anyone being the understudy for Juliet's part. You're perfect for the job."

"Yeah," Mina said lamely. "Well, I better get into position." She strode off towards a blond haired boy who was playing Juliet's father.

"Did you really memorize your lines that quickly?" A new voice said close to her ear. His soft breath tickled her neck.

She frowned. "Why, don't believe me?" She turned around to face Darien. "What are you even doing here? You aren't in this scene."

"I have a note to give to Professor Winthorpe," he said cockily as he gave her a wink. "Congrats on the role of Juliet. I sure missed a lot yesterday." He sidestepped her and went up to the director. They whispered hurriedly to one another, then the director shooed him away. Darien walked back to Serena and smirked. "I wish I could stay and chat longer, Serena, but I'm excused for today's rehearsal."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Don't feel like rehearsing. I'll see ya tomorrow. Don't forget our date tomorrow." He gave her a heart melting grin.

"I wouldn't call a tutoring session a date." Serena frowned. It wasn't like she cared about where Darien was going or anything. She wasn't even sure she could classify him as a real friend. "Where are you going?"

The smirk remained. "Why, wanna go with me?"

She raised an eyebrow. Before she could protest, Darien gently grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her towards the director. "I forgot to add that I'll be taking Miss Claire with me, Professor."

Professor Winthorpe bit her lower lip, as if holding back the true words she wanted to say. "Fine," she gritted out. "Mr. Shields, Miss Claire," she nodded her head at them in dismissal. "And I do hope this will not become a… trend. We're behind schedule as it is."

"There's no need to worry, Professor. I've mastered my lines, and I'll be sure to help the new girl memorize hers as well."

"Jerk, I already memorized them," Serena said. Darien shrugged. "Come on Serena, let's go?" He dropped his hold on her immediately after they exited the stage.

"I'll see you later, Serena," he gave her a backwards wave as he strolled down the empty hallway.

Serena was flabbergasted. "Just wait a second. I thought I was going with you." She quickly strode over to him. "After all, that is what you said." Serena began to imitate Darien's facial expression at the time. "'Wanna go with me?' That's exactly what you said, you dumb ass."

Darien raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" He placed his warm hand against her forehead. She slapped his hand away.

"Talk about a 180," Darien grumbled. "Your personality just totally changed."

Serena looked at him like he was an idiot. "Huh?"

"I'm serious." He rubbed at his head. "Are you always this loud and obnoxious?"

"WHAT?" she yelled. "You're the obnoxious one, you jerk." Serena said as she hit his upper arm.

"Don't be silly, Ser-een-ah," a new voice taunted her. Up ahead stood Raye, and just behind her Amy, holding the same textbook as last time.

Raye eyed Darien, a smirk forming on her lips. "Who's your friend? I'm Raye by the way." She moved closer towards Darien and held out her hand.

Darien accepted and grinned. "Darien Shields. Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine."

At the corner of her eye, Serena could see Darien checking her friend out. She huffed. "Honestly Raye, what about Chad, huh?"

Raye puffed up her cheeks. "What about him?" she replied.

Darien slowly backed away from the glowering girls. "I'll be off then." He nodded in their direction before quickly walking out the school doors.

Serena looked at him, and then back at Raye. "Just leave me alone for a few minutes, OK? We're gonna have a serious chat later. Bye!" she waved and quickly ran after the retreating figure.

"Darien! Wait up!" Serena yelled. She squinted out in the sunlight, spotting Darien easily enough. He paused and waited for her to catch up.

"Ditched your friends for little 'ol me, huh? That's not nice, New Girl," he taunted.

She puffed out her cheeks and clenched her fists tightly to her sides. "Well, I was curious. That's all. I want to see where you're going and what that note said. I mean, I just don't get how you have this power over all the professors. It doesn't make sense to me."

They walked towards a large oak tree in the middle of the field. Darien sat down and leaned against the old bark. Serena stared dubiously at the long grass before sitting as well. The grass was itchy, but she kept from scratching at her legs. Darien plucked a few grass strands and began to break them into little bits.

"Don't you ever just get fed up with it all?" Darien said, out of the blue.

Serena shrugged. "I guess. School can be a pain."

"Not just with school. With life."

"Well, I'm not about to go kill myself, if that's what you mean," she said sarcastically. She quickly looked up at him. "Why, you're not one of those suicidal types, are you?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that."

"So anyways… why are we out here again?"

He grinned. With his large, tanned hand, he reached out to the trunk of the tree and patted it as if it were a pet. "This is my thinking tree. I come out here every once and awhile to get away from it all." He placed his hands behind his head and leaned onto the tree. "It gets tiresome being Mr. Popularity all the time. It may not look it, but I need my alone time too."

Serena quickly got up. "I'm sorry to intrude then! You should've just told me—"

Darien grabbed her thin wrist and pulled her back down. She nearly toppled onto his lap. "I don't mind the company, New Girl," he teased. His face was so close to hers. His dark blue eyes mesmerized her. All she had to do was lean forward and…. He quickly stood up, making her land on the hard ground.

"Hey!" she yelled at him. He chuckled.

"How 'bout we get outta here?" he asked. He held out his hand which she hesitantly accepted. He pulled her up with ease.

Smoothing out her skirt, she asked, "Go where?"

"Out on a date of course."

Darien Shields, the academy's most hottest guy, just asked her out. She was beyond shocked. She was dressed like a nerd. Hell, she was wearing glasses for god's sake, yet he still asked her out. "Why?" she asked, stupefied.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It could be fun. We'll go into town, see a movie." He winked. "Then you can tell all those friends of yours about it later."

"Don't be so cocky. I didn't even agree to it yet." This had to be a joke. Darien didn't go out with nerdy girls like her. He'd go out with the beautiful model-like people. People like Raye, or her real self. "You don't like me though."

He raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't like you, Serena, I wouldn't have asked you out. Now come on, just say yes and let's go."

She bit her lip. Luna would want her to say yes. It's all part of the learning experience. "Okay," she said hesitantly, "but if you try to pull anything funny, Mister, I will have to hurt you."

He laughed. "Alright, then. Let's go!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Man, I seriously have to lay off the designer brands, but they just keep popping up in the story. Silly materialistic me. Haha! But they're all supposed to be rich teenagers so I guess it's okay to mention just a few brands. I really want the Louis Vuitton speedy 30 bag now that I think about it… not like that has anything to do with this story. –cough- Coming up next, The Date. :D Review please! I just love reviews! 


	6. The Date

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Six**

Serena stretched her arm outside the window, idly playing with the air pressure as the car sped at nearly sixty mph. In front of them was the empty road. She leaned against the leather seat and lazily smiled. She was finally leaving that school, with the bonus of Darien Shields acting as her chivalrous prince. The radio was blasted on high, a smooth sounding song playing. Darien seemed focus on driving, not bothering with small talk. Serena just wanted to enjoy the moment of freedom. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten breakfast yet. She glanced down at her plastic strapped watch. It was close to lunchtime.

They had been on the ride for a good thirty minutes now. She was so used to everything being nearby. City living spoiled her. And if traffic was an issue, she'd merely take a helicopter. She gasped when Darien took a sudden turn. "I didn't think places like these existed in Cali," she said. "It reminds me of down the shore in Jersey when I last visited there." She stuck her head out the window as they passed a sign that said they were at Main Street. All the buildings were so quaint. She just loved it. Flower pots decorated the sidewalks, and even more flowers outside the window sills. The long strip of road appeared to have all the public attractions. Restaurants and antique stores were littered by the dozens. Serena stuck her head out and watched the people walking along the sidewalks. She took a deep breath, distinctly smelling the aromas of a nearby bakery and… the tangible scent of salty sea.

"What are you, a dog?" Darien asked, glancing in her direction for the first time since the road trip.

She immediately sat back fully into her seat and folded her arms. "Just when you were being nice, you just had to open that mouth of yours."

Darien slowed down his black Lexus and parked to the side of the road. "You got any coins on ya?" he asked, his hands searching his pockets.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Let me check." She grabbed her wallet from within her canvas tote and pulled out a quarter. "Why hello there, Mr. Washington!" She unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car. She strode over to the meter and inserted the quarter.

He smiled. "Thanks. All I had were pennies." He wrinkled his face in disgust, but his smile reemerged. "So Serena Claire, what do you want to do first?" He walked over to her and she was shocked when his warm hand gently grabbed a hold of hers. She didn't bother to let go.

"Umm, I am a bit hungry," she admitted.

"Alright. I know just the perfect place."

It only took a few minutes until they stopped in front of an old style diner. Once inside, their waitress led them to one of the red leather booths. With the menus in front of them, Serena immediately lost view of Darien's inquiring face. She skimmed through the lines but her eyes didn't comprehend what the words said. Her heart kept pounding and her stomach felt queasy. Was it because she was hungry, or the fact that she was on a date with one hot guy?

A long finger tilted her menu back, and she was met with his dazzling, midnight blue eyes. She held her breath and gave him a weak smile in return. He was leaning forward on his seat, elbows propped onto the small table. He had removed his tie somewhere inside the car, leaving the first two buttons on his white, short sleeved shirt unbuttoned, and revealing evenly tanned skin. His lips were parted slightly in his trademark grin, showing off his straight, white teeth. Hard to believe that this guy wasn't a famous actor or model but just an ordinary student.

"So what are you getting?" he said, interrupting her thoughts.

She bit her lower lip. Although it was close to noon, she never ate breakfast and was craving pancakes. She soon found something that made her smile.

A thin blonde waitress made her way over to them, her unpractical black heels clanking with each step against the linoleum floor. She whipped out a notepad from her dingy looking apron and plastered on a fake smile with those dark red lips of hers. Her smoke stained teeth made Serena look back at her menu in revulsion.

"Anything to drink, dearies?" she said in her squeaky soprano voice. Pen ready, her dark beady eyes focused on Darien.

"A glass of water for me, thanks."

The waitress nodded and wrote this down. She then turned to her. "And for you, miss?"

"Um, a glass of orange juice is fine."

The waitress was about to leave before Serena called out, "Oh, I'm ready to order."

The waitress stopped in her tracks and slowly, painstakingly turned around. "Sure," she drawled out, fake smile quickly replacing the look of annoyance on the woman's face. "Watcha want, hun?"

Serena set her menu down. "I'll have three pancakes topped with strawberry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream."

The waitress raised her eyebrow at the amount of food but jotted it down all the same.

Darien smirked before setting his menu down. "I think I'll have the same."

The waitress picked up their menus and sashayed back towards the counter, leaving Darien and Serena to themselves. Serena began to fiddle with her knife, rocking it back and forth with her index finger as it clanged to each side against the white napkin. She sneaked a glance at Darien, who had his head propped up by his arm, staring at her in what appeared to be amusement.

"So how do you like school so far, Serena?" he asked her politely. He folded his arms in front of him and leaned forward against the small, wooden table. Their heads nearly bumped into each other, but she was quick to draw back.

"It's alright, I guess," she said hesitantly. "I've met a lot of friendly people."

"Well of course. You met me," he said haughtily.

"Well, you were the first unpleasant person I met. You're slowly redeeming yourself in my eyes though," she said.

"Tell me more about yourself," he said, reaching out to hold her hand that rested on her lap. She blushed and non-too-delicately shoved his hand away from under the table.

"There's not much to tell," she said. "I like the colors pink and white. I love to go shopping—,"

"You don't seem like the type," he interrupted, staring down at her messy attire."

"I like shopping for books," she quickly added. She nudged up her glasses for an extra effect.

He grinned and shook his head. "You know, I don't get you."

"I… don't know what you mean."

"There's something about you, like you're hiding something from everybody." She didn't like the way he was looking at her, observing her from waist up. "Tell me, Serena. Don't you ever get tired of the social dimensions our school has? I'm sure it's the same in your public school as well." He began to stare out the window, giving her a chance to stare incredulously at his side profile. He had nice cheekbones….

She shook her head. What exactly did he expect her to say? She never attended school until just now. Why did he suddenly want to have a semi-intelligent and thought provoking conversation now? She scrunched up her nose, trying to figure out the correct answer to the question. He seemed to notice her hesitance as he began to laugh.

"You just don't want to admit it, do you? After all, we're both at the opposite ends of the spectrum."

She gave an unsure nod. Her stomach grumbled again as she smelled strawberries wafting from the kitchens. Oh, how she wished her food would just show up.

As if a fairy godmother was looking out for her, the waitress pushed the swinging door open with her hip and emerged from the kitchen holding a tray with their food and drinks. With steady hands, she placed the two plates on the table, as well as the drinks. "Enjoy, guys," she said, handing over two straws for their drinks from her apron.

They thanked her and began digging into their food. Lunch continued with small talk as the two of them focused on their meal. They discussed classes and homework. Darien was quick to remind her of their upcoming study session. As if she would forget that. With their plates nearly empty, Darien asked for the check. He placed his Visa credit card and handed it back to the waitress before she could protest.

"What kind of guy would I be if I didn't pay for your meal?" he said to her in a teasing tone.

Back outside, Serena squinted against the sunlight. She wished she brought her sunglasses with her as she saw Darien don a pair of Chanel sunglasses.

"Alright Serena, what do you want to do next?" he asked, once again holding her hand. They walked along the small shops, peering into musty windows and seeing odd displays.

"Seeing as I've never been here before… everything!"

He laughed. "We could go to the beach, if you want? They have some rides at the boardwalk, and vendors with cotton candy." He winked at her.

"I'd like that," she said honestly. She breathed in the air. "I can smell the ocean from here."

He nodded. "It's not that far off, but it's easier if we just drive there."

The drive to the boardwalk only took five minutes. They easily found a parking and got out of the car. Serena grinned happily as she watched the water wash onto the shore, and then recede. "Let's look for shells!" she said excitedly.

He laughed, shaking his head as he followed her. She turned around and grinned. "I love the beach," she said.

"I know the perfect spot," he said. He began walking faster. "Come on, I'll show you."

Serena kicked off her black school shoes and held them in her hand. "Wait up," she said. She removed her white socks and placed them inside her shoes before she ran after Darien. He stood at the waters edge, standing along some large rocks. He stared at her bare feet.

"Keep the socks off, but put your shoes on. We're going to have to do a bit of a trek," he said, showing her his own shoes.

She put her shoes back on, hoping they wouldn't get too ruined as she began climbing up on the slimy rock. Darien held out his hand and helped pull her up. She stared down at the dark blue water, which reminded her of Darien's eyes. "It's so pretty," she said, spying the sea creatures below.

"Yeah, it is, but wait till you see what I've got to show you." They climbed over some more rocks, leaving behind the laughing children and sun tanning women. "The rocks act like a natural barrier," Darien started to explain. "It keeps all the annoying little kids out, so it's more peaceful, not to mention clean compared to that part of the beach."

She was about to respond but immediately slipped. Her world came crashing down as her face zoomed in close against the barnacle covered rock. She cringed and closed her eyes before meeting her doom, yet strong arms wrapped around her waist and held her close. "You alright?" he whispered near her ear, his breath tickling her delicate skin. Her face felt hot, knowing that her cheek was resting against his firm chest.

"Yes, thanks for that," she said. She straightened her posture and let go of his warm frame. She looked down at the ground, embarrassed that she nearly fell. She pleased to know, though, that Darien had held her before anything horrible happened.

He held onto her hand again. "Just a little bit further," he said, his voice comforting her.

He helped her step down from the ledge of the rock and was met with smooth, white sand. She looked around and laughed in delight. She dropped her canvas tote from her shoulder and kicked off her shoes, running towards the sea foam green water. Darien soon joined her, watching as their feet slowly sank deeper into the wet sand.

"How'd you find this place? It's like a little paradise."

He shrugged. "I had a lot of free time during summer vacations."

"It's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this place with me."

She closed her eyes and relaxed for the first time in a long time. She pushed away her anxieties and just listened to the calming roars of the waves as it gently reached her legs. She felt Darien beside her, just a few inches away. She glanced up at him and smiled. He gave her a warm smile back.

"I wish I brought my bathing suit."

"I wish you did too," he said, an impish grin on his face.

She slapped his arm playfully. "You would, wouldn't you? Well, I'm not a tease. It's not like I'm gonna swim in my underwear."

"What a brilliant idea." He left her side and began to walk further into the beach area. She couldn't stop watching him as his hands began unbuttoning his white shirt until it revealed chiseled chest. He put his hand behind his head and stretched for a bit, showing off his six-pack. She wanted to go over there and just touch the toned skin of his. He began unzipping his pants and sliding them down his legs. Serena immediately looked away, covering her eyes as she did so.

"I can't believe you're doing this," she said. "You done yet?" She felt him run past her, and then heard a splash. Droplets of water sprayed onto her school uniform, and all she could do was blink in surprise. "You jerk," she said. He started laugh, and she joined in.

"The water's great," he said, splashing some more water in her direction. She removed her eyeglasses and began to clean off the lenses with her cotton shirt.

"I don't have a bathing suit," she reminded him. "I'll just play in the sand, build a sand castle. Anything besides getting wet." Her feet made slopping sounds as she walked through the wet sand.

"Aw come on, Serena. It's only me around. You're not wearing a thong or anything, are you?" he said. "I honestly wouldn't mind," he added, half jokingly.

Who did he think he was? Serena gave Darien the dirtiest look before she angrily took off her top, revealing her light pink, Victoria's Secret bra. She unzipped the plaid skirt and let it fall to her ankles. She inwardly smirked as she saw Darien gulp. Was that fear in his eyes? Oh, she was going to enjoy this. She wasn't known as one of the best A-list actors for nothing. She stepped away from the heap of clothes and calmly walked towards the ocean, swaying her hips ever so slightly.

"It's not polite to stare, Shields," she grinned. She waddled toward Darien until the water was above her waist. Taking a deep breathe, she jumped at the balls of her feet, then plummeted down under the water. She sprang back up again and gasped for air, tying up her wet hair in a messy bun as she did so.

He shook his head, a look of wonder on his face. "I really don't get you, Serena."

"Aw, do I confuse that little brain of yours?"

His response was sending a big wave of water at her. She retaliated as she pushed the slightly cold water in his direction.

They pair got out of the water after an hour of frolicking and dunking the other further into the water's depths. Serena's fingers felt wrinkled and once she fully emerged out of the sea, she began to shiver. She was just glad that it wasn't a windy day. The sun was still bright overhead.

She put on her skirt, despite the fact that she was still soaking wet. Darien sat roughly onto the sand next to her. He leaned back and supported his bronze body with his arms. He drew his head back and shook the wet bangs that partially covered his dark, ocean blue eyes. He appeared to be staring at the sky. She didn't know why though. It was a cloudless day today.

She started to build a sandcastle, although her first attempt looked more like a mound of wet sand than anything else. As she placed the finishing touches of her second, more regal looking castle, a thought suddenly came to her. She immediately stood up, wrecking her hard work in the process. Darien looked up at her in alarm.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he too got up and brushed off his black cotton boxers.

"I totally forgot about classes," she said. She bit her lip. She was already failing math and now she skipped it!

"It's a Thursday, Serena. Everyone skips Thursdays and Fridays, especially if the weather is so nice like today." He didn't seem to understand why she was so worked up.

"Well I'm not everybody! I can't be like you, skipping all the classes and not getting in trouble for it."

He shrugged. "We only had math and English today, and I'm in both those classes with you. I'll just tell the professors that you were with me. Simple enough."

Her tense shoulders began to relax. Darien's hand reached out and brushed against her skin as he pulled up the thin, pink bra strap. She turned her head and watched as his hand gently rested against her shoulder, then back at him.

"Thank you," she said. "For that… and getting me out of trouble."

"It's no problem, Serena. I don't want you worrying over something silly like school when we're out on a date."

She blushed. To have him reaffirm that this was in fact a date made her happy inside. "Yeah," she said.

He peered up at the sky again, squinting his eyes as he did so. "It's getting late," he said. Wanna just walk around the boardwalk, maybe get something to eat?" he asked. She nodded. "Then we could catch a movie," he continued. "We should be back at school around nine or ten. That okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," she said, glad that she didn't have to make any plans. Her skirt was damp still, as was her bra. She felt uncomfortable wearing wet clothes. Hopefully it'll dry while they walk along the boardwalk. Her white shirt stuck to her skin. She sighed in dismay, noticing that the fabric was see-through when wet. She rubbed her feet against the other, getting rid of the sand easily enough. She put on her shoes sans socks and picked up her tote. Darien had already put on his pants and kept his shirt open in the front. He sat on the sand, putting on his shoes and tying up the laces. Once he got up and turned to walk towards the rocks, Serena couldn't help but giggle.

"What is it?" he asked, turning around. She pointed at his backside. Sand stuck to his dark pants where he'd sat. He chuckled slightly before wiping off his butt. "Better?'

She shook her head, still laughing. "Yeah," she said. "Now help me get up on that rock."

Darien half climbed up on the rock and stared back down at her. Serena held out her hand, waiting to be pulled up. Darien did so, and the two began the short, yet rocky walk back to the main beach.

Once they reached boardwalk, Serena was quick to notice the large amount of people out and about. Darien seemed to notice her confused look and smiled. "It's late in the afternoon, Serena. A lot of people get out of work and bring their family's here."

The rest of the afternoon was spent eating corndogs from a nearby vendor, and then braving out the rides that littered the boardwalk. They had even played a water gun game against each other. Serena was proud to say she easily won. She even got a large, pink teddy bear out of it.

"It wouldn't have been gentlemanly of me if I didn't let you win," he said in defense. She just stuck her tongue out at him and showed off her large bear for all to see.

Now they settled back inside Darien's nice car, dry from the day's earlier events. She put the giant bear in the backseat and fastened her seatbelt.

"Still up for that movie?" he asked, turning his head and placing his hand on her seat as he began to slowly back up the car.

"Yeah, of course." She held back a yawn. "I don't want this day to end."

"Glad to hear it."

"I'm surprise you actually make decent company."

He rolled his eyes. "I can't say the same for you. Always being mean to me." He shook his head dramatically. She punched him lightly in the arm. "Oh, the abuse I put up with," he added before grinning widely.

They went back up to Main St. and parked in front of an old style theatre. Serena looked up at the glowing letters and froze. "What the hell…?"

Darien put the car in park and stared out her window. "Huh. Serenity Blair marathon. Should be good. I love all those movies."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Say Goodbye to Yesterday, Frozen Kiss, Apocalypse… you actually watched those chick flicks?"

"Apocalypse isn't a chick flick," he pointed out. "And I have a mother who always drags me to those kinds of films. They aren't that bad."

She laughed. "Wow, aren't you one-of-a-kind, huh?" She was honestly slightly nervous to watch any of her films. It embarrassed her whenever she'd watch herself in a movie or see herself on the TV.

"I've been told I make good boyfriend material," he joked.

She coughed into her fist. "Sure." She got out of the car and closed the door behind her. She walked over to the box office, Darien right behind her.

"Two adults for Frozen Kiss, please," Darien said to the young man behind the counter.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Frozen Kiss is THE number one chick flick out of all of them. Honestly, you don't have to prove anything. We could just watch something else, like X-Men III or something."

He grinned. "Nah, that's okay. I like chick flicks." He winked at her. "Just don't tell anyone. I don't want my masculinity to be questioned."

She eyed him up and down. "As if that would ever happen. You're the epitome of maleness," she said blandly.

"Why thanks, Serena," he said mock-cheerfully as he paid for the tickets and handed hers to her. "Well come on. It's gonna start in a few minutes and I don't want to miss a second of it." She smiled. He had readily paid for her ticket. Who was she to insist upon paying?

She was surprised to see the theatre packed with couples occupying the theatre's seats. "This movie's over a year old. I don't understand why there are so many people here," she said as they found two empty seats at the far side of the darkened room.

Darien shrugged; a box of popcorn in his hand. "It's a good movie," he said. "You want some?" he offered, holding up the box towards her face. The smell of the buttery junk food made her feel sick.

"No thanks."

In the middle of the movie, Darien leaned closer towards her. She held her breath, thinking that he was going to kiss her. Her eyes focused on the screen. She saw herself in a white outfit, her blonde hair blowing amidst the pure snow that fell around her. It was the part when she was waiting for her lover to come home. She remembered filming that scene very well. They used real snow. That white silk dress and that wet snow did not mix at all. After several takes, the dress was ruined.

"You know," Darien whispered into the shell of her ear. "You sort of look like her."

She began to panic.

"You even act like her. You twirling in the water back at the beach, her in the snow."

"Are you saying I should be the next Snow Princess?"

He chuckled softly.

"Besides," she replied. "I look nothing like the Snow Princess. She beautiful," she admitted. At least, that's what everyone would tell her when dressed as her old self. Staring into the mirror, she just couldn't agree. The faults just screamed out to her. Now, with her transformation of being a school nerd, the imperfections were more noticeable. A pimple here and there, a small scar just above her right eyebrow that she got when she was three. Perhaps not ugly, but she wasn't beautiful.

"But you are beautiful, Serena Claire," he said, his voice serious.

Her heart began to beat louder. Was he going to kiss her? She almost wished he would. She felt him pull back, but his warm hand was soon placed above hers. She turned her palm upward and entwined her fingers with hers. She couldn't agree more; Frozen Kiss was becoming one of her favorite movies, all because she has a dark haired guy to share the moment with.

* * *

"I had fun today," she said. They had driven back to the school directly after the movie. She was just so tired; she couldn't help but yawn on the way back.

Darien had walked her back to her dorm. He smiled back at her. "I'm glad." He leaned in closer to her. The scent of roses and the sea breeze filled her nose. She held her breath in anticipation as his lips found hers. Her palms were sweaty and she couldn't help but feel nervous as well. It was soft as his lips lingered over hers. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel his free hand roam her back as the other cradled her head in support. Gently, he pulled back, his eyes still shut. Serena parted her lips and touched them lightly with her fingers. The tingling sensations she got whenever Darien touched her were hard to ignore. Did she even want to?

Darien held her small hand in his and gave her butterfly kisses against her pale skin. "Goodnight, Serena," he said with warmth in his voice. He gave her a wide grin before turning back and walking towards the boys' dorm.

She stood there at the entrance of her hall, dumbstruck. She leaned against the stone pillar, staring as his tall figure calmly walked to his hall. She didn't expect today to be so wonderful. A tap at the window brought Serena back to reality. It was the matron-in-charge, giving her a dirty look. It was already dark out, with the lanterns strung about the campus giving off a yellow glow. All she could see of Darien now was a mere shadow in the distance. The woman rapped at the windowpane again. With a sigh, Serena pushed open the heavy oak doors and walked towards the elevators.

"You're cutting it close, Missy," the matron said; her dirty brown and mixed gray hair in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. If she remembered correctly, her name was Professor Lass. She was the same woman that caught Mina from going to some Dresden Dolls show. Serena nodded as she passed by the woman and pressed the up button to the elevator. "Goodnight, Professor Lass," she called out.

Ching! The elevator doors opened and Serena stepped in. "Goodnight," she said respectfully. The doors closed and she watched as the lights lit up once she passed the first three floors. The doors let her out once she reached the fourth floor. The watch stated that it was ten at night. She made her way to the bathrooms first. Mina was probably asleep already. School was tomorrow, and both of them had early morning classes. Too bad for her, she still had to do her homework.

* * *

"Serena?" Mina's sleepy voice said out in the darkness. "What are you still doing up? Its…" she paused, looking at her alarm clock, "two a.m.! We have class tomorrow."

Serena put her pencil down on her desk and sighed. "I'm sorry, Mina," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you." She rubbed at her eyes. The numbers in front of her were blurring into something unrecognizable. "I never got a chance to finish my math homework." She yawned.

Mina groaned and faced away from the light that was on her desk. "Just go to sleep and copy Amy's. Where'd you go anyway?" She had stuffed her head under her pillow by now. Serena dimmed her desk light and tilted it further away from her roommate's corner.

"Went to town with Darien," she replied. She paused. She was just dying to get it off her chest and tell one of her friends. "He kissed me."

Mina shot out of bed incredulously, tangles and frizz all over her once French braided hair. Her yellow blanket barely covered her pajama clad knees. "He kissed you?"

Serena put her glasses down on her desk and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Yeah. He totally surprised me when he… kissed me." She felt so conflicted. She liked Darien, but at the same time, she was afraid of him getting too close to her. After all, she was playing a role and she wanted him to like her for who she really was. Yet that just seemed silly, since was playing a nerd and that meant appearances didn't mean much to him. Still, she felt like she was lying to Darien all the same. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't help but look glum.

Mina appeared wide awake now as she swung her legs over to the edge of the bed in a sitting position. "Did he hurt you? He didn't take advantage of you, right? I know Darien could get a bit touchy, but he isn't the type to pull anything like that…."

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. He just gave me one simple kiss… and it was perfect." She sighed again and leaned back onto the plastic chair. "But I'm scared, Mina. What if he sees me later and plays it off like nothing ever happened? He doesn't even know me and I don't want to get hurt. I don't know what to do. I don't even know if I can consider us a couple, or if there's even an us."

Mina got out of bed and walked over to her. With her long arms, she reached out and gave Serena a comforting hug. "Oh Serena, have faith in yourself, and in him. Darien may be a playboy, but he isn't the type to go out with a girl and then another girl the very next day. Darien's actually quite particular on having quality relationships that last. If he took you out today, that means he does like you on some level. Who knows? Maybe one day, you could say that you love him, and he loves you."

Serena couldn't help but feel the tears trickling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Mina for getting worked up like this," she sniffled. She swatted at the wet droplets. "After all, it was only a kiss. It's just… I never felt like this before. I was never in this given situation and I—"

Mina drew back from her and stared her directly in the eyes. "You mean you've never kissed a guy before?"

Serena blushed. Of course she had! All of them were in front of cameras with fellow actors. None of the kisses, however, were shared on a more personal level.

"Oh wow. You're first kiss, and it was to Darien Shields." Mina sat back onto her yellow and orange hearts themed bed. "Go you, girl!"

"Mina," she whined. "Promise me you won't tell anyone. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. If Darien's going to play it cool, then I'll pretend nothing happened between the two of us as well."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'd yell at him and show him just what he's missing out on," Mina advised. She snuggled her pillow and yawned. "We'll talk about this later when my brain's actually functioning. Goodnight, Serena."

Serena picked up her pencil and sighed morosely. "Goodnight Mina." Just five more problems to go, but her brain couldn't concentrate on the numbers. All she could think about was Darien Shields.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Fifteen pages of Serena/Darien goodness! All for you lovies:D Please review! I'm sad seeing all those hits not matching up with the reviews. But that's life, huh? Thanks for the continuing support everyone! 


	7. The Secret

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Seven**

The incessant beeping of an alarm clock numbed the deep recesses of her brain. Serena groaned and turned to her other side, hitching the warm, cotton blanket over her head to block out the noise. The beeping continued and she inwardly groaned. She threw off her sheets and walked across the room towards her still sleeping roommate. "Mina," she said groggily, shaking the blonde girl's shoulder. "Turn off your alarm clock, will ya? I'm trying to get some extra sleep."

The blonde mumbled incoherently, ignoring the ferocious shaking from her roommate. "Mina," she continued to whine, her eyes partially shut due to lack of sleep. Giving up, Serena walked to the other side of Mina's bed and slammed the clock off. She took in the glowing red numbers and cringed. It seemed like it was going to be another morning without breakfast. "Mina, we have exactly thirty minutes to get up and changed. Come on!" She pushed down the sheets of her still sleeping roommate and grabbed the blonde's thin wrist, yanking her off the bed and onto the carpeted floor.

She landed with a bang as her body did a little bounce on the ground. "Oww!" Mina croaked out, sitting up and rubbing her ribbon tied hair. "What was that for? I'm up! I'm up! Sheesh!"

Serena already was by her closet and picking out her uniform and undergarments. "I'll see you at lunch," she said, turning her head slightly towards the mumbling girl still on the floor. She grabbed her shower caddy and with her clothes and towel snuggled in her arms, left the room towards the shared bathrooms.

Raye stood in front of a mirror, applying her makeup, when Serena reached the steaming bathroom.

"You look like a zombie," Raye said, eyeing her from the mirror. She began putting on bright red lipstick, her full concentration on applying it perfectly.

"Good morning to you too," she said, rolling her eyes. She set her things on the wooden bench and turned on the hot water. She absolutely hated public showers, especially when all the stalls were taken. Now though, her problem was the lack of hot water. Her fingers felt the tepid water and frowned. It was her fault for getting up late. At least the temperature was bearable.

"So did you have fun when you ditched us?" Raye called out by the sink areas as Serena got into the shower.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Serena asked, eyes closed as she let the water run down her tired body. Sleep was calling to her. Oh, if only she could go back into those warm sheets and rest her head against her fluffy, down pillow… that would be pure bliss.

"You know," Raye continued, "when you left Amy and me back in the hallway to follow that black haired guy like a puppy dog. A rather cute puppy dog too, if I might add."

Serena snorted. "I did not follow him like a puppy dog. I just had to ask him something." She shampooed and conditioned her layered, brown hair. It was getting late and her class would start soon.

"You better hurry up, Sere," Raye said, her voice echoing against the gray tiled walls. "We've got stat in like ten minutes." The girl started laughing, and then all Serena heard was the door swinging shut.

* * *

Luckily for her, she had a minute to spare as she entered her statistics classroom. The professor had yet to arrive, but most of her classmates were already there, gossiping amongst each other. Serena settled herself at the back row, furthest away from the professor. She was doing horribly in this class, and it would take a miracle for her to even manage a C. She piled up her textbook and notebook on her desk and rested her head against it. Closing her eyes, she began to slowly drift off.

A jab of someone's finger against her bare shoulder jolted her awake. The smiling face of a wide awake, coffee-induced Darien greeted her. "Hello there, Sleeping Beauty."

"Don't you mean fair Juliet?" she replied, placing her cheek against her book once again. She planned on never staying up so late again.

"True," he said. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look so well." She felt his warm hand against her shoulder.

"I'm fine, just tired. I stayed up all night finishing up homework." She yawned into her palm. "I don't know how I'm going to survive this class."

He brought his hand by his side. "Why don't you just go back to your room and sleep? I'm sure he'll understand. I could always cover for you." He reached across the aisle and grabbed her notebook off her desk. "Here, I'll even show your homework for you."

She bit her lower lip as her eyes met his. "Sure you don't mind?" She glanced up to the front of the classroom, where the professor was settling himself in front of his desk.

"Of course not," he said. He got up and tugged at her arm to stand up as well. He led her to the front of the classroom towards the professor.

"Serena's not feeling so well, Professor Taylor. I think it's best if she goes back to her room to rest. She's given me her homework, and I'll be sure to inform her of what she needs to do to catch up."

The professor nodded as he nudged his glasses up. "Alright. Feel better Ms. Claire."

Serena nodded her head in thanks. "Thank you for understanding, Professor."

The two of them walked in front of the open door that led to the nearly empty hallways. Their fellow classmates were still loud and talking amongst themselves. Darien stopped her from walking through and gave her a devilishly handsome grin. "Come here," he whispered close to her earlobe.

"Wha—"

His soft lips melted onto her own as he interrupted her. She closed her eyes and leaned against his strong frame, enjoying the sensations as his tongue skillfully glided inside her mouth. Eyes still closed, Serena pulled back and inhaled his unique scent of roses. She smiled despite herself, and loved every minute of Darien's secure arms wrapped around her waist. She felt complete, for the very first time in her life.

The whispers of her classmates brought her back to reality, and she leapt away from Darien's warm embrace hurriedly. Cheeks flushed, she glanced back and forth at her classmates who had their eyes on her. Raye in particular caught her eye and gave her an all knowing smirk. 'Talk later,' she mouthed to her.

She felt his tingling touch at her back as he nudged her out the door. "You better get going, Serena. You need sleep. I'll see you later for our study date. Remember; meet me at three outside by our tree."

He sent the class in a frenzy as soon as he mentioned the word 'date'. He sent her heart doing flip flops with the words 'our tree'. She didn't know if she should laugh or yell at one Darien Shields. He definitely wasn't making life any easier for her, but at least he kept things interesting.

"Alright," she said instead, her voice at the brink of exhaustion. "I'll see you later then."

For the first time in awhile, the professor gained control of the class. "Settle down," he bellowed. "Mr. Shields, please refrain from public affection in my class and get to your seat."

Serena was already out of the room and down the hall, but she could hear her professor's deep voice bouncing through the empty halls. She wouldn't be surprised if the class next door had heard the commotion.

* * *

A knock on her door awoke her from her slumber. Out of habit, she bolted out of bed. She unlocked the door, yanking at the handle and peering outside the hall in confusion. Raye stood just a few ways back, grinning impishly at her. In her hands was a brown bag that hopefully indicated to be her lunch. She turned around and glanced at the clock. One p.m. on the dot. "Come in," she said, making way for her friend to enter.

Raye sauntered inside and dropped the brown bag onto her desk, a bottle of Evian rolling slowly out of said bag. Raye plopped herself down on her unmade bed and surveyed her surroundings. Her eyes stopped once she saw across the room and began to laugh.

"She has a poster of you! How precious!" she cooed. She got up and went to Mina's side of the room, glancing up and down of the poster that zoomed in on her smiling and cheerful face.

Serena nodded. "Yeah, I was a bit surprised too when I first walked in. At least she doesn't suspect anything so far, so I'm good." Serena took in her appearance in front of the mirror and winced. Her brown locks were a mess, despite having been braided earlier before. Unraveling each braid, she felt the dampness of her hair from her morning shower. She played with the now curly strands and let out a sigh. Her sparkling blue eyes stared back at her. "Crap! I forgot to put on my contacts!"

She ran to her closet and grabbed her shower tote. Sitting innocently in one of the pockets was her folded glasses. She stilled, her eyes widening. She forgot to wear her glasses this morning, too. "Oh my god, I'm screwed," she said weakly. Her bum met the floor and she stared ahead of her in a daze.

"What are you going on about now?" Raye asked as she walked up to her and peered down at her.

"My cover's blown. I screwed up." Serena continued to stare dazedly at the wall.

"Really now?" Raye raised a delicately arched eyebrow. "I don't hear anyone pounding on your door for answers. I think you're safe, Sere."

"You don't understand! I forgot to wear my contacts AND my glasses. I'm so stupid." She hit her head with the palm of her hand.

"Seriously, Sere, I think you're alright. You're just overacting. I mean, I didn't notice anything out of place, besides the fact you made out with Darien in front of the class." She gave her friend a wink.

"But Darien must have noticed! I mean, he was only a few centimeters away from my face," she continued to ramble.

Raye joined the girl on the floor. "Tell me everything!"

She shook her head. "You were there, Raye. Nothing much else to tell. My cover's screwed so I'll probably have to head back home."

"No, no! Not that! Tell me about the kiss you shared with Darien! When did this relationship develop? I thought you guys were just friends." she nearly squealed.

Serena peered at her friend cautiously. "You're not acting like yourself, Raye. Are you alright?"

Raye waved her hand idly. "It's not everyday that my best friend kisses a real guy. You can't believe how shocked I."

She twirled a strand of brown hair around her forefinger. "I kiss guys all the time in the movies I'm in. I don't see how this is any different." As soon as she said it, she knew she was wrong. It was different. The heat from her cheeks was an immediate sign that she was blushing.

"Those guys are just actors. Those weren't real kisses."

"Whatever you say, Raye."

"So tell me about yesterday, and today! You guys are having a date today, huh?"

In a dismal manner, she picked up her thick framed glasses and put them on. There was no point in wearing her contacts. She would probably be out of here within a day's time. She stood up and walked by her desk, pulling out a sandwich from the brown bag. "Thanks for the food," she said as she made herself comfortable on the plastic chair.

"No problem. Now spill!"

A key scrapping the lock brought the duo to stare at the door. Mina pushed the wooden door open with her hip, her hands full with her books and notebooks. "Hey Serena!" she said brightly. Her smile soon turned into a frown when she saw who else was in a room. "Oh, it's you."

Raye glared at the blonde girl. "Hello to you too," she said, sarcastically.

Mina put on an overly cheerful face. "Hi!" She rolled her eyes at Serena before dumping her books onto her neatly made, orange coverlet and then went over to her own desk. She hummed as she turned on her laptop.

"Enough with the interruptions," Raye said. "Tell me already!"

"Well, as you already know, Darien took me out to a small town for lunch—," she started.

"He took you out to lunch?" Raye asked, surprised.

Serena nodded. "He then took me to the beach and we played around--"

"Played around, huh?" Raye winked at her. "Ooh, what a naughty girl you've been, Sere."

Serena slapped her friend's arm. "Get your mind out of the gutter, sicko!"

Raye laughed. "Alright, but then what happened?"

She paused as she chewed her sandwich. "Well… he took me to the movie theatre. There was a Serenity Blaire marathon going on. We ended up watching Frozen Kiss."

At this point, Raye had tears in her eyes. Mina had turned away from her laptop and was staring at her friend as if she were crazy.

"Oh my god, that's so great! He didn't suspect anything?" Raye asked, wiping a few tears away from her violet eyes.

Serena gave her friend a swift kick and glared, eyeballing towards Mina and shaking her head.

"Right, right," she said, sill laughing. "Oh man, I wish I could have your life. It's always so much fun."

"You live a more fun life than I do."

"So then what?" she asked excitedly.

She shrugged. "He brought me home, gave me a kiss goodbye, and that was it."

"Aw Sere, you just had to make it sound dull. That hottie KISSED you! I mean, usually, that wouldn't seem unusual, but look at yourself…." She winced. "You aren't exactly beauty queen material."

"Raye? Just shut up. Okay? Not all of us can be supermodels like you."

"I don't get it," Mina said from across the room. She stood up and settled herself next to Raye on the floor. Serena tensed for a moment and couldn't help but glare at Raye. Although there was already a chance that her cover was blown, having Raye make so many hints towards who she really was in front of Mina just doomed her fate. "Last night, you were so worried about how Darien was going to treat you this morning. Now, you seem so… jaded by it. Did something happen?"

"I should say so," Raye grinned. "He kissed her, in class, in front of everyone."

Mina's jaw dropped. "No way!"

Raye laughed. "Yes way!" She turned her attention back to Serena. "He really likes you, you know. What are you gonna do when this is all over?"

"When what's all over?" Mina asked.

"She means when the play's over," Serena said quickly. "Darien and I decided we'd practice the kissing scene so it'll appear more natural on stage," she fibbed.

"Oh," Mina said. "Lucky you." She got up from the floor and sauntered back to her desk. "Once you have him, don't let him go," she advised as she winked at her.

Serena let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I won't."

Mina squinted at her, a frown marring her pretty face. "Hey Serena, aren't your eyes usually gray?"

Serena frowned. "Uh yeah… they change colors whenever I'm moody." She began to laugh. "They must be blue now, huh?" She scratched the back of her head nervously.

"They're such a pretty blue. Reminds me of someone else's…," she trailed off. Serena held her breath as she saw Mina glance towards the poster, but then focused back on her computer screen. "Too bad they don't always stay that color. Darien likes girls with blue eyes."

"Guess he likes girls with gray eyes too, huh?" she replied weakly.

Mina chuckled. "Guess so."

Raye got up from the floor with a sigh. "I better get going. I got so much homework to finish."

"Oh Sere," Mina said suddenly. "Just want to remind you that we have play rehearsal later tonight after dinner. Do you have classes later today?"

Serena shook her head. Since her nap, she'd slept through two of them already. "I'm done for the day. What about you?"

"Same. I just gotta catch up on homework," she groaned. "You'd think they'd let up on the work since it's a Friday."

"Wouldn't that give them all the more reason to give us work?" Serena laughed. "But I feel your pain. I don't know how I'm going to maintain my scholarship."

"Seriously, Serena, you should just go to a lower level for some of your classes."

"You don't understand, Mina. I have to stay in those classes."

"What are you trying to prove though? I'd understand if you were trying to maintain a 4.0 like you did in your old school, but you need to understand that this school is a prestigious one and much more competitive than a public school. You're not doing so well in English or your math subjects, Serena. Amy and I are worried that… you might get kicked out with the way you're performing." She whispered the last part.

Serena bit her lower lip. Sure, she knew she wasn't getting the straight A's that Luna expected of her. Being tutored all her life, grades didn't hold much importance. They were just letters that normal teens probably worried over. Her career was already set. As long as she had her face and her acting skills, she'd go far and continue to support herself and her family. Seeing the littering of past tests on her desk, she took in the various marks of C's, D's, and even a few F's. Perhaps it wasn't wise to leave them out in the open like that.

Serena noticed that Mina was biting her lip nervously, the bright red ribbon tied atop her fine, blonde hair slightly askew to the side. She was twirling her long hair around her forefinger, then unraveling it, only to repeat the process again. Her laptop seemed forgotten as she stared back at her. Her blue eyes seemed troubled. It really must have been bothering her that much, and it touched Serena that she had friends that cared.

"Thank you, Mina," Serena said after a long pause in conversation. "You really don't have to worry though. I guess I should tell you already." Serena walked over to Mina and sat on her bed, making sure to push the girl's books further to the side. The bed squeaked at the added weight.

"What are you talking about? Tell me what?"

Serena sighed. "I'm glad you became my friend, Mina. Without you and the friends I've made here, I'd probably given up by now."

Mina had fully turned around so she faced the girl directly. "You're not making sense, Serena."

"I'll be honest with you, Mina. I don't have much time left before I leave Orcyrde Academy for good."

"What?" Mina gasped in surprise. "You're transferring? But why?"

Serena began to fiddle with the hem of her skirt. "Well, I only planned to stay here for the semester. I'm going back home next term."

"So you're an exchange student or something?"

"Nah, nothing like that. I just wanted to get the feel of how a posh school like Orcyrde would be like. I must say, it's been fun so far."

"But your grades," she said weakly. "Aren't they going to affect your supposed perfect score?"

Serena smirked. "I'll let you in on another secret. I was never the top student in my old school. Hell, I never even went to a public school." She could tell by Mina's expression that she was floored.

"Oh my god," Mina said suddenly. She jumped out of her seat and backed away from Serena, her hand touching the wall against her back, feeling for the doorknob. "Are you… a nark?"

Serena frowned as she folded her arms. "Do I look like a cop to you? Puh-lease, Mina. I'm the same age as you."

Mina appeared to ignore her. "I swear, I don't drink, and I definitely don't sell drugs. I don't know any drug dealers, I promise. Although there's this shady guy in my music class who seems like he's always on something, if you know what I mean. But honestly, I don't do any of that shit. I'm just hyper because that's who I am, or maybe because I eat too much sweets and that makes me appear like I'm high or something--," she continued to ramble.

Serena sweat dropped. "Mina," she said. The girl kept on talking, confessing this or that, or talking about this person or that person that might have tried drugs throughout high school. "Mina," she tried again. After taking a few deep breaths, she screamed. "MINA!" That shut the blonde girl up. "Seriously, Mina," Serena said, shaking her head. "I'm not a nark and I'm definitely not a priest. No need to confess to me that you dated Darien over the summer." She felt her vein on her temple throb once she heard that particular confession.

"You must be a snob princess then. Oh god, don't kill me!" The girl's eyes were wide with fear. She kept glancing back at her and the window. They were on the fourth floor. Surely she wouldn't jump… right?

"Snob princess?" Serena wrinkled her nose. "What are you going on about? I'm not a snob, Mina."

"You know," Mina continued, "those big, scary, Italians in business suits who shoot people if the slightest things piss them off. Don't you watch The Sopranos?" she said, aghast.

"A mob princess?" Serena deadpanned. "No and no."

"You're a spy then, come to steal my family secrets! But my family doesn't have any secrets…. Then you must be here to steal the school secrets!" Mina's eyes brightened at her new revelation. "That's why you befriended Darien!"

She was curious now. "Why'd you say that?"

Mina gave her a 'you-must-be-stupid' look. "It's because his mom is the head of the Board of Trustees. The Shields' practically own the school. You must've noticed how Darien gets away with pretty much everything around here."

That explained things. Mina sure had a crazy imagination. "Alright, enough of this. I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell." Why did she have a feeling she'd regret this later?

Mina stopped her attempt of escape and stilled for a moment. "Alright," she said after awhile. "As long as you're not planning to kill me, then I guess I can keep a secret."

"You can't tell anyone, not Molly, not Melvin, nobody. Do you understand?" she said slowly and deliberately, as if she were talking to a three year old.

"Yes," she huffed impatiently. "I promise. Now tell me."

Serena took a deep breath before spilling out her secret. "My name's not really Serena Claire. I'm Serenity Blaire. Nice to meet you," she said with a smile. She held out her hand for a handshake.

Mina stared at her hand, as if she were an alien. Then slowly, she stared up at her face. Her eyes swiveled to something behind her. Serena turned around as well to see what caught her attention. It was the poster that zoomed in on her face, her blue eyes shining for the camera. They were the very same blue eyes that were hidden behind the thick rimmed glasses she now wore. A loud 'thump' made her turn her head to where Mina once stood. There on the floor, a star-struck Mina lay, out cold.

Serena calmly walked over the crumpled form of her roommate and went to her desk. She pulled out her cell phone from her desk drawer and speed dialed a number. After a few rings, the other line picked up. "Hello, Luna?" she said calmly. "We have a problem. My cover's been blown."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Cliffie! Ha! And that, folks is my lame attempt at humor. May you all find it funny and in suspense for the next chapter. Time to crank up the conflict now. After all, a good story needs a few bumps in the road, right? Review to your heart's content. Thanks again for all the reviews! Seven chapters with 127 reviews. Wow. :D You guys are awesome. 


	8. The Scene

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Eight**

Fanning her roommate with one of her old tests seemed to be Serena's task for a good ten minutes after the poor girl fainted. The girl stirred for a moment's time, but after opening her eyes a crack, she let out a gasp once she saw Serena's face and slumped into her panicking arms. She then continued her ministrations, allowing Mina's heavy head to rest on her lap like a pillow.

She tried to keep calm about the situation. She'd called Luna once the girl was down on the floor. It hadn't been a pleasant conversation, to say the least. The curly haired agent was already on her way in her BMW convertible from L.A. Raye was the next on her list. She didn't expect the raven haired beauty to be much help though, and she was correct. After letting her model best friend into the small dorm room, the girl burst out laughing and pointed at her fallen roommate.

"It's not funny, Raye," Serena said, rubbing at her eyes.

"Believe me, it's bloody hilarious," the girl said, her face serious, until she started laughing once again.

Her friend leaned against the wall, sitting up on her bed. She had a notebook in her hands and flipped through the pages thoughtlessly. Serena's legs were becoming numb from the extra weight, and she wished Mina would wake up already. She glanced at her plastic watch, the digits 2:35 screaming at her. She sighed. She used her hands to support herself as she leaned against them on the floor.

She didn't think the girl would faint. Okay, so maybe she wasn't totally surprised about the outcome. If the roles had been reversed, she'd have probably done the same. She held her breath when she felt the girl stir, but her hopes crashed when Mina went back to never ever land. Mina promised to keep quiet about her secret, but that was before she found out what the secret was. She'd told Raye that as well, but the girl merely scoffed. 'That girl has a huge mouth. By the end of the day, everyone will know who you really are. Then it'll be game over,' she had said.

A ball of paper brought her back to the present as it bounced against her forehead. "What the hell was that for?" Serena asked. She grabbed the notebook paper ball and unraveled it. 'I'm bored,' was written in Raye's neat handwriting. Serena crinkled it back into a ball and tossed it at Raye's head. "Idiot, you're right across from me. Just speak. And aren't you supposed to be studying for your test anyways?"

Raye appeared to ignore her. "Maybe we should get her to the infirmary. It's been what? Fifteen or so minutes already? It's her fault she's so weak. Just leave her there and let's get an early dinner."

"Please Raye, be nice to her. What happened in the past stays in the past. The girl's rep is already marred as it is. Just let it go, okay? Besides, Luna told me to stay put until she came by."

Raye stretched up from the bed and let out a small yawn. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Have you tried shaking her awake? Or maybe we can dump cold water over her head. It'll help with the bump I'm sure she's got."

Serena shook her head. "You're so evil, Raye."

Raye grinned. "I know." She rubbed her hands together. "You know you want to do it too. You're just as impatient as me."

Serena looked down at her sleeping roommate's face. "Fine, go get the water. I know I'm going to regret this," she said the last part mostly to herself.

Her friend left the room and rushed back in after a minute, a plastic cup full of water in her hand. She hovered over the calm face of Mina, swirling the liquid in the cup as if it were a martini. Serena gently placed the girl's head against the wooden floor and stood up, stretching her legs as she did so.

"Shall I do the honors, or will you?" Raye asked her. Her friend couldn't stop grinning as she let a single droplet land on Mina's pale cheek. She didn't even flinch.

"How cold is it?" Serena asked. She placed a finger inside the cup, but quickly withdrew. "What the hell? That's so cold!"

"I know." Raye held her breath in anticipation. With one quick motion, she poured the ice cold water onto her unsuspecting victim.

Mina jumped up, screaming murder. With wide eyes, she glared in shock at Raye, then at Serena. "What was that for?" she yelled. She shook her head, rubbing a particular sore spot where she landed on the floor. "Holy shit," she said after awhile. "I wasn't dreaming. You're really Serenity Blair, aren't you?" She wiped off the water from her fringe and kept on staring at her roommate. "That explains why she's here," she said, eyeing Raye in anger. "Serenity Blair and Raye Hino: the It Girls of stardom. Everyone wants to either hang out with you or be you." She paused for a moment, ignoring her soaked t-shirt. "Can I have your autograph?"

Serena stared at Raye, who only shrugged her shoulders. It seemed she was just as clueless on what to do as she was. "Uh, sure I guess."

Mina squealed. "Oh my god, this is so great! I'm rooming with The Serenity Blair. Everyone's going to be so jealous when I tell them!" She went to her desk and grabbed a notebook and a pen.

"Mina, you can't tell anyone who I really am. Remember? You even promised."

Mina waved her off. "Sure, sure. I remember now. Well?" she said impatiently, shoving both notebook and pen into her hands. "Aren't you gonna sign it?"

Serena shook her head in exasperation. "What do you want me to write?"

Mina tapped her temple in thought. "I know!" she said suddenly. "To my bestest friend and roommate in the whole world! You're an awesome person and you're oh so cool! I wish I could be as cool as you, Mina. Love, The Serenity Blair."

Serena sweat dropped. She was at a lost for words. Raye, on the other hand, spoke her mind. "What the hell are you going on about? Are you on crack? She's not your best friend, she's mine. And please! The day you become cool is the day I fall off the runway and die."

Mina puffed out her cheeks. "Raye, you're so mean! And I didn't ask for you opinion. It's not your autograph to sign, its Serenity's."

"Please Mina, just call me Serena," she said as she hastily wrote down the message on paper and signed it with her signature she had long perfected, twirls and all.

Mina hugged the piece of paper to her chest, squealing as she did so. "Oh man, this is so great! I have Serenity Blair's autograph!" She was jumping up and down now, and doing little spins in her spot.

Raye eyed the hyper active girl with a raised eyebrow. "I'm going to get back to my work. Good luck with that one. You're gonna need it." She promptly left the room, ignoring Serena's pleas for her to stay.

Serena shook her head at Mina'a antics. "Just calm down for now, okay? There are a few things we need to discuss. My agent is heading over here as we speak, so give or take thirty minutes or so, and she'll be here."

Mina paused. She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "Discuss what exactly? I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"No, you're not in trouble, although I probably will be." Serena sat on her bed and leaned against the cool wall.

Mina bit her lower lip. "I don't you to get in trouble, Serena. If you want, I'll pretend then I didn't hear you. You could even say I bumped my head and got a bout of insomnia."

Serena felt like hitting her head with Mina's suggestions. "You mean a coma, Mina. That won't work though. It's too obvious of a cover-up."

"So we're just going to tell the truth," Mina asked, flabbergasted.

"Well, what other options do we have? I already told my agent that I told you my true identity." She absent-mindedly started tapping at her knee. She was relieved, even just by a little bit, by telling Mina her true identity. The panic was still there though. Darien still didn't know, but he probably suspected something due to her mishap of forgotten contacts and glasses earlier. Amy was also another clever person who probably suspected something fishy about her. If only she could pull up her grades… but that just wasn't possible for her.

Mina began rummaging in her closest until she found another white polo shirt to replace her soaked one. She faced away from the superstar and changed her shirt. Serena looked away from the blonde girl and stared outside the window. From her vantage point, she could make out the large trees that covered the small campus. She was supposed to meet Darien soon for the study date. She checked her watch and cursed. It was ten to three, and Luna still hadn't arrived.

She took out her cell phone to call him, and then froze. Shit! She forgot to ask him for his cell phone. Darien kissing her goodnight totally distracted her from the fact that she never had his phone number to begin with. The happy blonde was staring at her curiously, as if she were an exhibit in the famous NYC wax museum. It was an offshoot, but she had to ask.

"Mina," she began slowly, fiddling with the small, diamond incrusted crescent moon charm that dangled on her phone. "You don't have Darien's cell number by any chance, do you?"

Her roommate met her question with a large grin. "Are you going to tell lover boy your little secret?" Said roommate pulled out her pink Razr phone and pressed on a few of the keys.

"I'm not telling him who I really am," she said quickly. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you.

I just need to discuss something with him."

Mina winked at her and gave her a victory sign with her free hand. "Got it! You're lucky I still kept it." She tossed the pink phone across the room to the surprised Serena. She deftly caught it though with both hands, dropping her own phone against her mattress. "Feel free to use my phone. I don't mind."

Serena shrugged. "Alright. Thanks Mina. I really appreciate it."

She nodded. "No problem." Her eyes suddenly sparkled. "So cool. Serenity Blaire is using my phone," she said in wonder.

Serena rolled her eyes. She clicked the call button on Mina's smooth phone and placed it by her ear. Darien's smooth voice answered after three rings. "Hey," he greeted, sounding slightly confused. "I haven't talked to you in awhile, M. What's up?"

Serena twirled a stray piece of hair with her finger. "It's Serena, actually. Mina let me borrow her phone to call you."

He paused; his breathing could be heard across the line. "Well then, this is a surprise." His voice became deeper, huskier. He chuckled lightly, making her wish he was with her at that very moment, even if he were only to tease her like he usually did.

"Uh, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it today." She glanced across the room at Mina, who stared back at her. Mina gave her another wink and started doing hand puppets. Her right hand moved to her left and she started making kissing noises. She held back from tossing her pillow at the girl.

"Oh?" was all Darien could say.

"Yeah," she said. "Something came up last minute so I won't be able to see you at three."

"I can't believe you're canceling on me." He started to laugh again. She could almost imagine him shaking his head. "Alright Serena, we'll postpone our study session for tomorrow. You can't avoid me forever." His voice sounded teasing as he said this.

She blushed at his comment. "It's not like that, really. My friend decided she's going to stop by and visit me today and she's going to be here any time soon…."

"No need to explain things to me, Serena. I'll see you later at dinner. You will be at dinner, won't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'll be there."

"It's a date. Bye, luv, and don't forget! We practice the last act tonight." The last act? What was so special about the last act for him to bring it up?

"Uh, bye Darien," she stammered, feeling the heat from her cheeks after the phone call disconnected. Serena rested the pink phone on her lap, thinking about the short conversation she had with Darien. "Relationships are confusion."

The general excitement seemed to have ebbed away as a calmer Mina positioned herself next to the actress. "What did he do this time?"

Serena handed the girl her phone back. "He did nothing wrong. I'm just new to all of this. To be honest, I never had a boyfriend before." She was shocked when Mina slid to the floor with a loud bang. "You really need to stop doing that," she said. She rubbed at her forehead. "I'm surprised the people below us haven't complained yet with all the noise you've been making."

"You're surprised? I'm the one who's surprised! What about all those people magazines pinned you with? You mean to tell me you didn't date a single one of them?"

"All the guys were too scared to ask me out," she said.

Mina's jaw dropped. "No kidding? Even actresses have that problem too?"

Serena gave her a pathetic smile. "Guess so."

Serena's phone sprang to life as it started to play her favorite ring tone, Moonlight Densetsu. The lit screen flashed Luna's name and phone number. She flipped open the phone and rested it against her shoulder and head. "Where are you?"

"I'm already here," was Luna's terse reply. "Come on down with that roommate of yours. We'll have a discussion away from prying ears."

Serena crawled out of bed and put on a pair of pink flip flops. "There really isn't much to discuss though. She pretty much knows everything." She waved Mina over to follow her out the door and she was quick to follow. "I'll see you in a few," she added and quickly ended the call. "She's already outside," she said.

"I sorta figured," Mina replied as she locked the door.

The pair nervously walked side by side to the entrance doors, taking the elevator on the way down. They had passed Molly on the way, but the girl seemed to be busy on the phone to do anything more than smile once they passed each other.

"There she is," Serena said. Mina slowly trailed behind her as she pushed open the heavy wooden doors that let to the outside. Luna, with her long, perfectly curly locks, was an intimidating sight with her large sunglasses and sharp business suit. Her lips were upturned in a frown, her arms lightly folded and her one foot tapping impatiently away at the ground. Serena knew from her stance that Luna was not a happy person.

"Follow me," Luna said once the two girls reached her side. The two students complied as Luna calmly walked further away from the crowd and through the grassy lawns of their campus. They reached a more wooded area that had benches and picnic tables about. For being such a nice day, it was odd to see no one around.

Luna made herself comfortable on one particular bench while the girls did the same. Luna pulled up her sunglasses over her head and gave Mina a serious look. "Mina, I presume?"

Mina nodded. "Hello," she said lamely. They briefly shook hands before Luna turned her attention onto Serena.

"Sere, you do understand the seriousness of your actions?"

"Not even a hello?" Serena asked with a little laugh.

Luna raised an eyebrow. She was obviously not amused.

Serena sighed. "Yes, and I'm sorry. Mina already promised not to tell." Mina nodded in confirmation.

"That doesn't matter. Someone knows who you are. That's dangerous, especially since you don't have any bodyguards here. There are reporters to worry about, and fans…. I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel this experiment."

Serena froze in her seat. "What do you mean exactly by that?"

"What I mean, Serenity, is that I'm here to take you home. Pack up your things. I want to leave before nightfall." She idly checked her watch.

Serena jumped out of her seat. "No! I want to stay."

"Yeah, let her stay! She has friends here, and a boyfriend! She can't leave us just because I know the truth. I swear, I won't tell anyone," Mina pleaded.

Luna shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips. "You do understand that she's merely staying for the semester? After this, she'll go back to her acting career."

"Yes, I know, but Serena deserves to live a life as a normal teenager. I'm a huge fan of Serena's, so I know she's been acting since she was just a baby. At least here at Orcyrde, she has a chance to be around teens her age who aren't friends with her just because of her name. We care about her. Not just me, but all her friends." Mina gave Serena a small smile. "Please let Serena stay."

Luna got up from her seat and placed her Hermes bag on her shoulder. "You win. I don't have the heart to snag Serena away from her friends just yet." She reached inside her bag and pulled out a plain white business card. "You have the looks to be an actress. In fact, you could almost be Sere's twin." She scanned the blonde from head to toe. She handed the card to the shocked blonde. "Give me a call if you're interested in acting. I wouldn't mind representing you."

"Thanks, but I already got an agent," Mina replied, but she accepted the card all the same. This surprised both Luna and Serena.

"I thought you gave up on modeling?" Serena said. "You still go to school and you never leave for any jobs that I know of..."

Mina rubbed the back of her head and giggled. "I gave up on modeling. Besides, I'm not tall enough to be a runway model. I'm into singing now."

"Really? Are you going to release a CD soon?"

"I'm still in the studio recording most of the tracks," Mina admitted. "So it won't be out till perhaps end of the summer."

"Oh wow. That's really cool, Mina. You never told me before!" Serena said, jabbing her friend's shoulder playfully.

Mina held back a large grin, which looked more like a twitching smirk. "I didn't want to say anything until it was all final. We're still in the prepping stages."

Luna cut in, "If you don't mind me asking, who's your agent?"

"Oh, his name is Artemis. No last name, just Artemis," she said.

Serena raised an eyebrow at Luna. "Hey, isn't that your boyfriend," she said dryly.

"Go figure," Luna said. "Well, I better get going. It was nice to meet you Mina. I'll talk to you later Sere."

Serena hugged her agent goodbye. "Bye Luna. Tell my family I said hi and that I miss them."

"Will do," Luna said. She grabbed her keys out of her bag. "I wish I could stay longer, but I really do need to leave before nightfall."

"Dinner date with Arty dearest?" Serena teased.

Luna blushed as she put on her sunglasses. "Something like that," she mumbled as she headed towards the school parking lot. "Cya girls. It was nice meeting you Mina," she said, giving them a backward wave. "I'll keep in touch, Sere," she yelled out as well.

"Well then," Serena said after awhile. "That wasn't so bad."

Mina smiled. "I agree. Hey, you up for some dinner? I'm starving!"

Serena's stomach grumbled at that exact moment. The two roommates laughed. "I'd have to say yes. Come on, let's go!" She tugged at her friend's arm and led her towards the dining hall.

* * *

Throughout the ten minute walk to the dining hall, Serena couldn't stop smiling. A similar grin was plastered on Mina's face as the two of them swapped stories of their past. Mina did most of the talking though, telling her of the music industry and the slow process of recording her album. "It's like I sold my soul to the devil with all this good luck I've suddenly had."

Of course, Mina being Mina, she was sure she didn't mean it like that. "More like you have a guardian angel looking out for you," Serena said.

Mina giggled. "Yeah, that's what I meant." The two moved closer to the main academic building where the dining hall was located. "I gave modeling a shot, but my strength is in my voice. Hopefully I'll become an idol, just like you are."

"I'll make sure to buy your album when it comes out," Serena promised. "You'll reach the top of the charts in no time, I'm sure."

"It better," she laughed. "With all this hard work put into it, I never have any free weekends anymore." She stretched out her arms over her head and yawned. "This has been such an odd day."

"Yeah, I agree. I'm just glad someone besides Raye knows now. It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

The change was instant. Mina stopped in her tracks, a look of seriousness about her. "You're still worried though. I promise you, Serenity, I won't tell a soul on your true identity."

Serena patted Mina's hand. "Thanks Mina, I really appreciate it."

Mina smiled in response and the two of them continued their slow paced walk towards the school. Upon reaching the brick building, Mina paused once again. "Oh, you might want to put on your glasses at least. Your blue eyes are really pretty and someone else is bound to notice the difference of eye color."

Serena tapped the bridge of her nose, feeling bare skin instead of the wired glasses she usually wore. Mina pointed to her head. "Oh," Serena said. She grabbed her glasses from atop her head and placed it snuggly in front of her eyes. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Mina said. She pushed open the door, only to reveal Darien further down the entrance, his back leaning against the wall. His posture gave off the feeling of casualness, as if he had all the time in the world. Mina chuckled. "Romeo seems to be waiting for you, fair Juliet. I'm guessing you won't be having dinner with the gang. I'll see you later, and good luck!" Mina walked past Darien who was now fully aware that Serena was in the same room as him.

Mina couldn't help but notice how Darien's gaze never left Serena. The girl in turn was fidgeting with her brown hair and alternating from looking up at Darien's face to staring down at the marbled floor. The two of them had it bad.

She walked past him, staring straight ahead towards her destination, but whispered so only he could hear. "You better not hurt her, or I promise you, we'll hurt you in return."

Darien's smirk faltered for a split second, but came back full force. "Yes, Protector, I promise not to hurt your charge," he said in a humor-filled tone.

She "hmphed" in response at his joke and then before she left the two of them alone in the entrance way.

Darien walked over to Serena and stood in front of her. "Hey," he said as he held her hand and placed it against his lips, leaving a soft kiss.

"Hey," she replied back as she pulled her hand back from his grasp.

"I was hoping we could have dinner together before rehearsals," he said, putting his hang against her lower back and leading her towards the dining area.

Serena knew the types of people Darien sat with. Snobby, mean, and fake pretty much summed them up. She was surprised at how different Darien was from all of them. There was also that redhead who always clung to Darien's arm during lunch…. Darien appeared to notice Serena's expression and quickly added in, "It'll only be just the two of us." He moved closer towards her. "I don't want to share you with anybody," he said seductively.

She covered her mouth and laughed, feeling her cheeks warm up with his ridiculous comment. "Alright then," she said. "Let's get some food."

* * *

"Everyone's staring at you and you don't seem to be phased by the attention at all," Darien observed.

Serena shrugged. "I'm used to it," she said in-between bites of her chicken sandwich.

"Oh? You got a lot of attention at your old school?"

Serena inwardly cursed at her slip up. Of course Serenity Blair was used to the attention. She was always in the spotlight and rarely had privacy when she was out in public. But she was also Serena Claire, the girl who was supposed to be a quiet, introverted girl who shied away from attention. She sighed. Bit by bit, her cover was slowly unraveling, revealing her true self. Maybe she wasn't as good an actress as she had pride herself in being. Further thought was needed in coming up with her personality and how to act amongst her peers.

A hand waving in front of her eyes startled her from her thoughts. There was concern written all over Darien's face. "You alright?" he asked. "If you want, we could get out of here. We have twenty minutes until rehearsals anyways."

Before she could even respond, the busy redhead she had seen latched until Darien's arm during lunch from before sashayed over to their round table. She had to admit, with the girl's wavy, long auburn locks and oval face, she was beautiful. She was out of her school uniform and wore a purple velvet top and a jean mini skirt that had a rose stitching at her hip. Her long, perfect, deep red nails tapped Darien on the shoulder. Serena felt those cold eyes stare at her and she shivered. She could feel the utter hatred from the girl with just one glance. That was scary.

"Darien," the girl's deep, sultry voice seemed to whimper out his name.

Serena clenched her fist and held back her temper. The girl was obviously just wanted to talk to Darien, nothing more. She wouldn't try anything with her sitting right in front of her, right?

"What is it Beryl?" Darien said; his forehead wrinkled in annoyance.

"All of us," she nodded her head in the direction she came from, "were wondering why you were sitting here with," she scrunched up her nose, "her, when you could be sitting with us and," she bent down and leaned close to his ear, "me," she whispered. Then she did something that shocked both Darien and Serena. She licked his outer earlobe!

Serena jumped out of her seat and grabbed the mash potatoes that Darien had half eaten. With her finger, she jabbed the idiot on the shoulder to gain her attention. Once Beryl turned towards her, she slammed the plate of mashed potatoes onto the girl's pointy face. "Oh, will you look at that," she said cheerfully with a mean edge to her voice. "How clumsy of me. At least the mashed potatoes don't clash with that poor head job of yours."

She could hear the whispers and even some giggles all around her. She didn't care though. Let them talk. No one licked any parts of Darien while she was dating him! Amongst the chatter, a lone clapping started. She glanced towards the sound and was surprised to see it was a boy from Darien's usual table. He was tall, with short dirty blond hair. She would always see him hanging out with Darien. He was also in one of her classes. Andrew, his name was Andrew.

Darien pushed his chair back and stood up. His face was calm, despite what just happened. "Beryl, clean up the mess, will you?" He then held Serena's wrist and started walking out the exit. "Come on Serena, let's go before she retaliates. It's never good to mess with Beryl. She's exiled royalty from some eastern European country. Her family is powerful, but a corrupt one. Not even I would mess with Beryl. Let's just hope this will blow over."

"Oh man, I can't believe I just did that," she said after awhile. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble." She shook her head.

"It really was brilliant though," Darien said. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"You seem to forget that you were on my bad side the first time we met," she teased.

He puffed out his chest proudly. "I guess I can handle you then," he said. He kissed the top her head. "No matter what happens, I'll protect you for baddy Beryl."

She did the only thing she could do. She laughed.

* * *

"Again!" Professor Winthorpe, the school director ordered. "Darien, I want you to pick her up as if she were a delicate china doll, not a sack of potatoes. You need to put on a show for the audience. Move with utmost care and elegance." She then set her sights on Serena. "You," she barked out, and then grinned. "Keep up the good work. You're the one that's giving me hope for this miserable play. You outshine the other cast members. Good thing you're playing the lead then, huh?" she chortled. Grumbles could be heard from the sides of the stage. No doubt they all heard the woman's harsh comment. "From the top!"

Darien and Serena took their positions. Her mindset became that of Juliet. She took acting seriously. Her body, mind, and soul were that of Juliet, fated to die and never live a happy life with her modern day Romeo. The now characterized Juliet faced the audience, a wistful expression on her made up face. Darien was a few meters away, facing her. Arm outstretched, he paced his steps until he was by her side.

"Juliet," he mock whispered. "Why do you do this to me? Why is it that you fill my dreams at night? During the day, it takes all my willpower just to go on living without you nearby.

She turned away from the audience in a half turn and reached for Darien's hand. "This cannot be, Romeo. My flight for New York is tomorrow, and I'll never be able to see you again." Her shoulders drooped and she faced the ground demurely. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I left."

Darien picked up her thin form and cradled her against his body. "No, I won't allow it! I need you by my side."

She pushed his chest and he reluctantly placed her feet back on firm ground. "There's nothing I can do, Romeo. Even if I wanted to stay here by myself, I'm still underage. Besides, my parents don't approve of you. I can't go against them."

Darien shook his head. "There's a way to escape this separation."

She seemed to hold her breath. She clasped her hands together in a praying motion. "How?" she asked breathlessly. She could feel the heat from the spotlight on her. The tickle of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"Do not cry, Juliet," he adlibbed. He gently stroked the side of her face, wiping her perspiration away. He bent down on one knee and stared up at her shocked face. "I know we're young, but I couldn't possibly imagine a life without you by my side. Will you marry me?"

This was when Juliet was supposed to cover her eyes with her hands and sob, but already she felt natural tears roll down her cheeks and onto her chin. She slowly reached for his hand and placed it in between her breasts, right over her heart. "You'll always be in my heart. I'm not whole without you, Romeo."

He stood up and cupped the side of her face. "I love you," he said, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. She didn't get a chance to respond in kind as Darien pulled her into a warm and lingering kiss.

"Excellent!" Professor Winthorpe called out as the kiss continued on for a good fifteen seconds. "We'll add that onto the script. That scene was simply beautiful. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that scene was real."

The couple pulled apart but kept close contact with each other. Serena rested her head against Darien's shoulder while Darien wrapped his arm around her waist. "I wouldn't mind marrying her for real," he joked.

Serena swatted him in the arm. "I'm too young to marry."

Off to the side, Mina and Lita watched the whole exchange.

"You're right, Mina. They have great chemistry going on between them. They make such a cute couple. An unusual one, but definitely a cute couple all the same."

I'm the Goddess of Love for a reason you know." She winked and posed with her hand forming a victory sign. "V for victory!" she cheered.

Lita rolled her eyes. "You're calling yourself a goddess now? A cheerleader is more like it, but you're too clumsy to become a cheerleader."

Mina pouted. "That's mean!"

"And you're delusional. You just got to deal with it. I do."

The pair continued to watch the newly formed couple throughout rehearsals. It was going to be a great play. Mina couldn't stop smiling. She was glad to know that Serenity was just magnificent on stage as she was on the big screen. "Such an odd day," she repeated from before, shaking her head. She waved Lita goodbye and stepped off the stage. Rehearsals were almost done. No one would care if she left just a bit early.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Woo! Done! And it's thirteen pages to boot, yay! I never knew five hours of class would actually become useful besides learning. Haha! That's the only reason I got this out now rather than next week. Ooh! My birthday's coming up this Monday! Care to leave me a present? I'd love your feedback:D Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter! It'll focus on a trip to L.A. with your favorite characters. :) 


	9. The Trip

**A Normal Teenager **

**By: Lillian**

**Chapter Nine**

Gazing into the crystal blue waters of the Pacific Ocean reminded her of the last time she was at this beach. Little had changed since then, although more people were at the beach in their various swim wear, frolicking along the shore or relaxing on the sand. Serena's wistful gaze unconsciously flickered further along the beach, just beyond the jagged rocks where Darien had revealed the secluded spot. That had been weeks ago, but the event still warmed her heart as if it were yesterday. Just thinking back to that day on the beach made her want to giggle madly to herself, but then her friends would think her insane.

She felt a nudge on her arm. Serena turned half way and was greeted with a smiling Mina. In her hands was a brand new volleyball. "You up for a game?" the blonde asked. She bounced the ball a few feet into the air and caught it back with ease.

"Nah, maybe later," Serena replied. "Thanks though."

Mina shrugged. "Alright, I'll hold you to it," she said.

Serena waved goodbye as the orange clad girl jogged towards the temporary volleyball court. She sat down on her beach towel and brought her cheap white sunglasses over her eyes. She let out a content sigh as she lied down and saw the cloudless sky above her. "So pretty," she marveled as her eyes squinted against the warm sun.

Oh how she loved the summer. The last week of May brought excitement to most students at Orcyrde Academy. The spring dance was the oncoming weekend, and the school play was the week after. Time flew by so fast. She remembered how much she hated the idea of going to school. Now she loved every minute of it. Well, that was a lie. She hated going to classes and perhaps even doing homework. The social life was what she enjoyed. Friendships were different as a celebrity. Now that she thought about it, her relationships to fellow celebs seemed so superficial now. It was also about being seen with the right people and the right restaurants and clubs. The same came with wearing the latest designer clothes and shoes. Serena could even tell that Raye enjoyed the less stressful life as a student. Although she still had the crazy fans to worry about, the paparazzi had yet to know she attended Orcyrde Academy.

Her grades were improving, what with the constant help and nagging of both Amy and Darien. All of her professors welcomed the change. The transitioning weeks of a new school were bumpy, but her grades finally reflected the image so was to portray: that of an intelligent young woman. She didn't get straight A's, but she no longer got D's and F's.

It was a relief that no one besides Mina knew of her true identity. The suspicion had ebbed away, being replaced with even more juicy news: she and Darien were officially together. Rumor had it that they were going to rule the school… in the upcoming dance, that is. Darien had yet to even ask her to the dance. Perhaps she should bring it up soon? Although she did receive a gorgeous gift on her bed one afternoon; consisting of a beautiful empire waist gown with golden circlets decorating the top. Next to the simple card was Darien's signature red rose. She had added the lone rose into the vase already full of the other roses Darien had given her. Who knew Darien was such a romantic?

The students speculated it started while working on the play together. They weren't too far off. Many of the students and faculty planned to attend the play, mostly just to see the odd couple interact on stage. She couldn't wait. She was confident that the play would be a success.

Wednesday, a school day and far from the awaited weekend, was when Mina reached a breaking point. "I need a break from all of this," she had said, waving her hand frantically around the room. "Let's get the girls and go to the beach."

And that was exactly what they did.

Raye and Mina were on better terms now, much to Serena's relief. The two of them were even planning the yearly fashion show together. The school principal had specifically asked Raye to model, and the raven haired beauty readily agreed. Raye in turn asked Mina to help with the runway project. Since then, the two could even be considered friends.

Amy sat lounging under her ocean blue umbrella, her feet partially buried in the sand and her large straw hat providing extra shade. Or maybe she was just trying to make a fashion statement? Her glasses rested at the bridge of her nose as she poured over a mystery novel.

Raye, Mina, and Lita already started a fiery game of volleyball. Mina prided herself on being a volleyball champion and volunteered to be on her own. She had a disadvantage though, because Lita was also pretty good. It helped that the green clad girl towered over the blonde. Sand sprayed all over as Mina took a dive in order to save the ball. It rolled mercilessly from her clasped hands onto the rough sand. Mina let out a cry and pouted at her opponents. Raye and Lita laughed in response. Serena shook her head from the scene and stared back at the ocean.

Melvin, whom they considered part of the gang, was wading into the clear water with Molly. The former New Yorker splashed her friend, wetting his lenses as she did so. The two kept on laughing at their antics.

Serena rested on her beach towel, feeling the warm sun kiss her skin. She put on her headphones, listening to the demo Mina had recently given her.

"You're going to burn," Amy chided a few feet away. "At least use more sun block."

"Lighten up, Ames," Serena said as she flopped onto her stomach. "I don't burn easily." Her phone rang.

"I bet its Darien," Amy said, smiling.

Serena rolled her eyes as she pulled down her headphones and reached for her phone. Darien's number flashed through the screen.

"It's like he can't live without you," Amy teased. "How often does he call? Every ten minutes?"

Molly plopped down by Serena. She saw the phone and grinned. "You have him wrapped around your finger."

"It's not like that!" she protested. She flipped open the phone. "Hey Darien," she greeted him. The girls laughed in the background.

She talked to him for a few minutes, making sure to whisper close to the mouth piece. The others huddled close by, hoping to catch anything of interest from the muffled conversation. Serena just shook her head at their antics and then hung up.

"So what did lover boy want?" Molly asked.

"He wanted to know where I was, and why I didn't invite him. You know… stupid relationship stuff."

"Really mature, Serena," Amy said. She set her book aside. "Why didn't you invite Darien? Usually he's glued to your hip."

Serena shrugged. "This is Mina's trip, not mine. Besides, she just wanted the girls to come. We all need a break with trying to impress guys and being self conscious all the time."

Amy glanced at the trio playing volleyball. "I'm not too sure about that. With what they're wearing, they've already gotten the attention of quite a few guys."

Melvin made his presence known. "Hey! I'm a guy and I was invited."

Molly waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't be silly, you're one of the girls."

Melvin's face faulted. "I don't know whether to feel special or insulted…."

Molly squeezed Melvin's shoulders with her tight embrace. "Aw, I didn't mean it like that, Melvin! You know we love you!"

Serena and Amy both gave each other a knowing look.

"Thanks, Molly!" Melvin replied and hugged the redhead back.

Serena couldn't help but notice Melvin's face pressed against Molly's chest. She blushed and quickly looked away. The sky was safer to stare at. It seemed Amy had the same idea. The girl buried her face back in her book.

Her stomach grumbled, making her wish she'd eaten before they left. She barely ate a solid lunch. An apple and half a salad was more of a snack than anything else. She had a sudden craving for strawberry pancakes with whipped cream…. Maybe they could all stop by that diner later?

A loud squeal made her jump from her spot. She immediately sat up and looked for the disturbance, as did half the crowd on the beach. She could see the life guard perched on the towering chair shaking his end in annoyance. She followed the general gaze of everyone else and saw an exuberant blur of orange running around in circles, arms flailing about in a crazy fashion.

Serena held back a grown and smacked her forehead against the white colored sand. "You have got to be kidding me."

Raye was now chasing after the blonde haired girl, arm raised, ready to smack her silly. Lita stood in the middle of the two girls running around her, clearly more amused than upset about the scene. Serena noticed the pink cell phone in Mina's hand.

"It's done!" Mina yelled; her soprano voice filled with excitement. "My album's done! My baby's going be released into the world for everyone to hear and enjoy!"

"That girl has way too much energy," Molly said in amazement.

"I wonder how she does it. She rarely has any sweets since she's on a diet," Serena added in wonder.

Amy laughed. "You're just as bad as she is most of the time."

Serena pouted. "Hey! That's not true! I'm a very calm, collected person."

The hyper blonde with the pink phone still in hand ran over to the gathered group, launching herself on Serena's and Molly's shoulders. "I did it you guys!" she said, laughing. "The studio wants me to come in today and make final adjustments, but after that, I'm done."

"Congratulations, Mina," Serena said.

"Congrats, hun," Molly added.

"You deserved it," Amy nodded.

Lita and Raye joined the group and settled themselves on the remaining beach towels. Raye searched through her large tote and pulled out sunscreen. Lita leaned against her arms behind her back, staring at the glittering ocean.

"Can I have your autograph?" asked Melvin.

Mina clapped her hands in delight. "Sure! You got a pen?"

Melvin scratched the tip of his nose. "Eh heh… nope!"

Serena quickly changed the subject. "When are you going to the studio?"

Mina's frown immediately turned back to a smile. "They actually want me to go today…" she trailed off. Her blue eyes seemed to brighten even more. "Hey! I have a great idea! Would you guys like to come with me? It'll be totally cool!"

"You mean go to Los Angeles with you? I'm so in!" Molly said excitedly.

"It's only Wednesday. We have school tomorrow," Amy said worriedly.

Serena caught Raye's glance. She bit her lower lip. Being back home, even just for a few hours, sounded like heaven. Yet there was a higher chance of being recognized there. Paparazzi were infamous for capturing snapshots of actors and actresses under disguises.

"I'm with Amy on this one. I don't think we should all go. Sorry Mina," she finally decided.

Raye nodded her head. "Yeah, and I rather avoid the cameras if you know what I mean. We'd be in the tabloids, wondering who these mysterious girls I was hanging out with."

Stars filled both Molly's and Lita's eyes. "Let's go to L.A.!" the two of them said at the same time.

Melvin folded his arms and frowned. "Why is everyone questioning my masculinity here? I'm a guy, not a girl. Please don't classify me as one."

Serena was stuck. Maybe if she wore a large hat and sunglasses, she could get away from all the press. "Raye, you gotta go incognito," she joked.

"Ha! So do you then! I don't want to be the only one dressed like a dork with a baseball hat or something," she said smoothly. She winked.

Serena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Sure, why not? We'll all dress up and pretend we're celebs for a day. Although…," she elbowed Mina, "this girl is gonna be a star soon. You won't forget about us little people once you became famous, right?"

Mina hugged Serena. "I never forget my friends. Friends forever and ever!" she exclaimed.

Once the group gathered their things and washed the sand off their feet, they all squeezed into the two cars. Raye's convertible only had room for one other person, and she made sure Serena sat with her. The rest piled into Melvin's silver Lexus.

Mina pulled down her window from the back seat. "So you know where we're heading, right?" she called out to Serena.

Raye answered for her. "I live in L.A., remember? Of course I know where that recording studio is."

Mina nodded. "Alright. We'll see you there! It's a race." Mina rolled up her window, but the two of them in the other car could still hear Melvin's whining.

"But Mina! I don't want to have a car race! I might get in trouble!"

Raye geared up her engine, tapping the gas pedal as her convertible let out a satisfying purr.

"Oh god, please stay within the speed limit," Serena pleaded as she saw the competitive gleam in the other girl's violet eyes.

"Oh but Sere, you know how I love a good race," she smirked. Raye slowly reversed out of her parking spot, then stepped on the gas. "See ya, suckers!" she screamed out immaturely as the engine's loud noise made Serena wince in dread. She made sure her seatbelt was on snuggly, then put her hands over her eyes. "I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die…." She chanted.

Raye's laughter was her only response.

-- -- --

It took longer than the usual hour to get into the city. Raye stayed within the speed limit, yet she still went faster than Melvin's car. Serena loved the feel of wind blowing through her hair. Her face felt tingly from the impact of air, but it still felt refreshing. She half wished she'd tied her hair up though. Once the car was safely parked at the studio, she managed to check her hair in the car's mirror.

"You got a comb?" Serena asked, staring hopelessly at her tangled strands of brown hair.

Raye rolled her eyes. "Of course. Unlike some people, I actually do care for my appearances."

"Ha ha," she said lamely. Raye tossed her the comb and she easily caught it with one hand.

"They're still not here," Raye sighed, keeping her eyes towards the entrance of the parking garage.

"You were driving really fast," she replied. She ran the comb through her hair and winced once she reached a tangle. "I hate me hair." She wrinkled her nose as she stared at her reflection. "I wish I did cut it up to my shoulders. It probably would have been more manageable."

"It's your trademark. Luna would never let you do it."

"Yeah, I know, but still." She patted her hair down and handed the comb back to Raye. She noticed the dark haired girl already had her baseball cap on, along with her D&G sunglasses that covered half her face.

"Your straw hat is in the back," Raye said suddenly. "I'll go get it for you." Raye opened her car door and leaned down. She fiddled with the gadgets until she lifted the right lever that opened the trunk.

Serena opened her door and got out, stretching her arm as she did so. "I'll get it, no worries," she said. She yawned into her fist. "Going to the beach made me sleepy." She looked down at her baggy white t-shirt and short jean shorts. "We're going to stand out, dressed like this," she said after awhile."

"We're incognito, remember? Let's not worry about how we look right now," Raye said as she flipped her hair to the back.

"Easy for you to say. You got that cute sun dress on." She pouted as she looked down at her own attire.

Raye placed a hand on her hip and gave her an impatient glare. "It's not my fault all you have is those tacky outfits. Once this is all over, we're going to do some serious shopping."

Serena grabbed her hat and roughly placed it on her head. She slammed the trunk shut and went back to her seat.

They waited impatiently in the parking garage for the other car to show up. The bickered just like old times, and although it may not have looked like it to any bystanders, they were enjoying each other's company.

Just as they were getting into a heated topic about Raye's boyfriend, the Lexus pulled up into the garage and parked conveniently next to them. The doors opened and the girls piled out of the car in a rush. Amy, with her straw hat still atop her head, nudged her glasses into a more comfortable position on her nose. "Sorry for the wait," she said while the other girls stretched. "Melvin's not used to city driving it seems."

Raye smirked. "Guess that means I win," she said obnoxiously to the only boy in the group.

Serena nudged her friend. "We weren't racing, Raye," she said. She opened the car door and joined the rest of her friends. "After this, why don't we find a restaurant? We still haven't eaten lunch, and there's always dinner to think about."

Lita laughed. "I'm surprised you're so skinny, especially with the amount of junk you stuff into your mouth."

Serena tugged at her lower eye lid and stuck out her tongue. "I'm just special like that."

Raye bobbed Serena in the head. "Now who's the one being immature?"

"You're so mean!" Serena cried out as she folded her arms in indignation.

-- -- -- -- --

The girls were greeted with a warm welcome once they entered the building. Mina excitedly pointed out the key members of her production team and ran to a tall, imposing man with long white hair. He had an aristocratic way about him. He stood up straight, shoulders back, and his nose up to the air in an arrogant manner. His smile however appeared real and he held out his arms to receive the blonde girl's hug.

"Arty!" she yelled as she fell into the man's strong frame. He patted her back as one would do to a doting daughter and pulled away after a moment's time. "It's finally done!" she said excitedly. "I can't believe the cd's gonna come out so soon."

"This summer," he added, a smirk tugging on his lips. "You're single will surely reach the top ten," he said.

Mina turned around and met the curious gazes of her friends. She walked over to them as she pulled Artemis' wrist. "Guys," she said. "This is my manager and best agent in the world, Artemis. He's been my manager since I was like what? Twelve?"

He nodded. "Time flies by, huh?" His cool gaze swept over them. "You have a unique set of friends, Mina. "I didn't know you were friends with The Raye Hino."

Raye gave an all knowing smirk as she stepped up from the group and shook the man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Artemis."

"Pleasure's all mine," he replied in a smooth voice. He let his hand fall back to his side as he looked at the rest of the girls. "Aren't you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends, Mina?"

Mina blushed and laughed in turn. "My bad. These are my friends from school. This is Molly, Melvin, Amy, Lita, Serena, and you obviously recognized Raye."

"Serena…," Artemis said, rolling her name at the tip of her tongue.

Serena unconsciously shivered as the white haired man eyed her up and down. His playful smile was starting to freak her out. After a few seconds, he glanced away from her direction and nodded his head in greeting to all of them. "It's nice to meet all of you."

The manager ushered the group into a rather small room where sound technicians fiddled with complicated looking equipment. Artemis walked over to the pair and leaned forward, talking in low tones that the group barely could hear.

After awhile, Artemis stood up straight and headed back to the girls. Music suddenly filled the sound proofed room, and a voice they were familiar with began to sing. The girls all stood in silent awe as they listened to Mina singing to a sad tune, telling a story of hardship and overcoming the pain.

Serena was overcome with emotion as the song neared the end. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears as she brushed the edge of her eyes. The room remained silent, even after the music was over. "That was… so beautiful Mina," Serena finally said in a soft whisper. The others seemed to get out of their spell and began to praise the blonde as well.

"You have a nice voice," Raye grudgingly praised her.

Mina giggled. "Coming from you, that means a lot. Thanks Raye. Thank you, guys! I'm so glad you were able to hear it. It's called 'Tears of the Moon' and we're planning on that being my first single." She looked over to Artemis for confirmation, and he nodded his head.

"Yes, we're planning on releasing that mid July or August if things go as planned."

Mina looked at the group in a shy manner. "Would you guys want to hear the rest?"

She was met with a chorus of "Yes!" Mina clapped her hands in delight and looked back at the sound guys. They fiddled with the panel full of knobs and soon enough, another song began to play.

It was more upbeat this time, with the electronic sound making it appear more techno. Serena grinned as she grabbed Raye's arm and the two began to twirl around the room. The rest of the gang began to dance as well. Laughter filled the room as the pulse of the music took over them. Even Melvin, who probably never went clubbing in his whole entire life, was carried away by the beat. His scrawny arms attempted to dance 'the robot', making Molly laugh in delight.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the sound studio, listening to the twelve tracks of Mina's songs. Midway through the music sampling, one of the interns stopped by the room to deliver a plate of small sandwiches. The group quickly devoured the food and staved off their hunger.

Music done and over with, they all decided to explore the city and eat dinner. Raye seemed hesitant on the idea of walking aimlessly around, and Serena backed her up on that. Why walk when they had the cars with them?

"It'll be fun though!" Molly tried to convince them.

"Raye, you're worried someone will recognize you then just put on that baseball hat and sunglasses. We'll even do the same and pretend to be tourists," Lita added.

"But you are tourists," Amy said.

"Well, you're a tourist too," Molly replied.

"Actually," the quiet, blue haired girl interrupted, "my mother lives in L.A. I'm pretty sure her apartment complex is nearby. She's a world renowned doctor. As a matter of fact, she has quite a few movie stars as patients."

Serena gasped. "You must mean Dr. Anderson!"

Amy raised an eyebrow at her. "Seeing as my last name is Anderson, you are correct. There's no need for the mock surprise, Serena," she said in an even tone.

Serena shook her head. She really was surprised though. She knew Amy's last name was Anderson, but Anderson was a pretty common last name. How was she to know that her doctor's daughter attended her school? Then there was also the suspicious smile Artemis gave her. It was obvious the white haired man knew who she really was and found her transformation laughable. She caught her reflection on the glass that showed the microphone in the connecting room. Her hair was still the hideous brown, but she could see her blonde roots showing. She had to have that fixed soon.

Maybe Luna chose Orcyrde Academy for a reason? At first, Serena had thought her manager chose the school randomly amongst the local private schools in California. Now her suspicions were raised. There were two connections from her old way of life. She was made Mina's roommate, despite her wanting a roommate at first. It then turns out Mina had a manager of her own, who turns out to be Artemis. Everyone in Hollywood knew Luna and Artemis was a couple. They were considered the power couple, as well as bitter rivals amongst the agencies.

Then there was a new connection she had just discovered. Amy Anderson, daughter to the brilliant Dr. Anderson who was her doctor since before she could walk. It was possible Dr. Anderson and Luna got together for lunch and discussed various schools. Of course her doctor would recommend Orcyrde if her own daughter attended the place.

She sighed. Her head was starting to hurt from this new discovery. Turning to Raye, she too seemed surprised.

"Your mother is my doctor," Raye said in amazement.

Amy nodded. "She's one of the best. A lot of the famous stars want only the best. It's my dream to someday become a doctor and follow in my mother's footsteps."

"You're the smartest girl in school! You'll be a great doctor," Mina said cheerfully.

"Thanks," she said meekly.

-- -- -- --

The teens strolled around the city that was filled with well dressed people dressed in various designer outfits and holding the latest phone models in their manicured hands. To Serena who grew up in this type of environment, she could feel the embarrassment coming from the others. She herself felt like trash next to the teenager who walked by them, holding a bright green Balenciaga bag and a pair of snazzy Chanel shades.

The fact was though, the group all came from rich families themselves. Serena of course, was the supposed poor one on an academic scholarship. Yet the group was in beach gear of all things, and wearing baggy t-shirts or shorts. Raye stood out like a sore thumb, even with the baseball cap on. Her long, violet tinted hair was a dead giveaway to those wanting to see a celebrity in Hollywood.

So while the girls and Melvin felt self-conscious on their ragged appearance because of all the stares, said stares were actually for the incognito super model walking the cement streets under the fading sunlight.

Serena pulled away from the group and walked behind everyone, making sure her large hat covered most of her features as she stared down at the group. She should have known Raye would attract attention, even under disguise.

A snap of a camera, followed by a bright light, confirmed her suspicion. The paparazzi were like hawks when it came to star spotting. She inwardly cursed and went in between Lita and Mina, hoping the two striking girls would be more interesting to look at than her. She willed herself to be invisible and wished she had Amy's calm demeanor.

"Shit," Raye mumbled as she took control and began walking faster towards the nearest restaurant to hide in. The rest kept up her pace.

"Raye!" a few of the paparazzi called a few feet away. "There's word that you've broken up with Chad, heir to supposedly millions—,"

"Is it true your best friend, Serenity, has quit acting?"

"There's rumors Serenity has ran away from home? Do you know where she is?"

Serena could feel her cheeks turn pink as the paparazzi barraged Raye with a bunch of questions concerning her. As if she'd quit acting. Acting was her life. And running away? Not likely. Why would she want to run away if she lived such a privileged life style?

"This is so awesome," Mina whispered to Lita as the all continued their brisk pace towards the unknown restaurant none but Raye seemed to know of.

"I know! We're so gonna be in the magazines tomorrow! How cool!" Lita replied back.

"More like the tabloids only," Raye whispered back, trying not to move her lips that much. "They just want to know of Serenity Blair, mostly."

"Oh man, that's right! You're best friends with Serenity Blair! Do you think we could possibly meet her? It doesn't have to be today of course. Only if she isn't busy, obviously," Molly added.

"Is it true? Is Serenity giving up acting? Nooo! She can't do that! Say it isn't so!" Lita nearly sobbed.

Mina stayed quiet, surprising the rest of the group but comforting Serena. Mina gave Serena a small smile before clearing her throat and gaining the attention of the rest of the group. "Sheesh, you guys are worse than they are. We're Raye's friends. Stop acting like the paparazzi and let's just have fun today, alright?"

Molly and Lita both looked shameful.

"Mina's right. Sorry about that, Raye," Lita said.

Molly nodded. "Yeah. We have tendencies to get star-crazy."

"More like star-obsessed," Raye grumbled, but accepted the apologies none-the-less.

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating soon enough. I blame it on all the partying and present opening and testing taking. :D Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! That sure made my day. –gives all of you strawberry cake from Chinatown- yummies! Anyways, sorry if this chapter isn't that great, but I do hope you enjoyed all the same. Darien will show up next chapter, no worries. Can't forget about Darien of course. I really didn't want to end it there, but I'm leaving in a few hours for Hawaii –squee- and I doubt I'll actually write while I'm there. Feedback greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading so far. **


End file.
